title: [Etnography as an Integrative Method].
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Ethnography is understood from three perspectives: approach, methodology and text. In the health field, ethnography can be used not only from the standpoint of the research process, but also from the very instances of medical consultation, diagnose and treatment. The pacient appreciates the fact of being heard and understood as a subject who has her/his own story and is involved in a particular culture related to her/his own status and to the effectsa caused by life experiences.
  
  
  METHODS
  Analysis of the literature related to ethnography, participanting observation and an relationship between health and qualitative research.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There is a diversity of opinions and attitudes about ethnography, its validity and usefulness as well as in considerations related to its method and the techniques that nourish it. Ethnography is an integrative approach that may resorty to multiple tools for collecting, analyzing and interpreting the data. Therefore, ethnography constitutes an option for the physician when performing individual assessment.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Ethnography provides an opportunity to approach the reality of an individual or group of individuals in order to obtain information about the matter under investigation, its understanding and interpretation.
authors.affiliation: Médica Cirujana, Universidad El Bosque, Especialista en Gestión de Salud Pública Universidad EAN, Especialista en Epidemiología General Universidad El Bosque, Candidata a Magister en Epidemiologia Clinica Pontificia Universidad Javeriana. Bogotá, Colombia. Electronic address: angelitaperezg@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Ángela Viviana Pérez
authors.initials: ÁV
authors.lastname: Gómez
keywords: Antropología cultural; Cultural anthropology; investigación cualitativa; narración; narration; qualitative research