Compelling Evidence: Research Methods, HIV/AIDS, and Politics in Papua, Indonesia

Abstract

Increasing calls for an evidence-based public health (EBPH) rely on forms of quantitative evidence to decide HIV/AIDS interventions. A major criticism of this method is it downplays the significance of experiential, cultural or political facets of HIV/AIDS. We apply the concept of ‘rendering technical’ to explore the relationship between methods used in HIV/AIDS research in Papua, Indonesia and current socioeconomic conditions. We analysed research methods used in sixty-two HIV/AIDS studies, assessed presentations at an international AIDS conference, and conducted ethnographic research in Papua. Nation-wide EBPH initiatives are implemented in Papua, yet there remains a critical mass of qualitative ethnographic studies carried out by indigenous scholars emphasising experiences of persons and culture, often within a colonial or post-colonial framework. We argue these studies partially counter approaches which render technical complex realities. In political conditions where indigenous minorities suffer inequities, qualitative ethnographic research may yield critical kinds of evidence, potentially contributing to more nuanced decision-making around HIV.

Keywords:

• Evidence
• Political Conditions
• Qualitative Methods
• HIV/AIDS
• Papua
• Indonesia

Acknowledgements

This research was funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. We acknowledge the support of Drs. Jack Morin from Pusat Studi Kependudukan at UNCEN in all phases of this project. We are grateful to Lynn McIntyre for her constructive suggestions on an earlier version of this article.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Jenny Munro

Jenny Munro is a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Community Health Sciences, University of Calgary, Canada

Leslie Butt

Leslie Butt is associate professor in the Department of Pacific and Asian Studies, University of Victoria, Victoria, BC, Canada