The role of formal qualitative research in negotiating community acceptance: The case of dengue control in El Progreso, Honduras

This article explores the unanticipated consequences of formative research conducted as part of a dengue prevention intervention. It argues that the rapid assessment formative research was successful not only because it uncovered gaps in knowledge concerning dengue and community preferences for organizing the intervention, but because it provided an opportunity to negotiate the relevance of project activities with the community. The significance of this negotiating process is explored by addressing Good's critique of health belief approaches in applied anthropology. It concludes by arguing that community-based intervention research - even if narrow and self-limiting - can be successful if it negotiates a working or practical 'project' epistemology with the community.