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This paper discusses the methods of collecting information in a field study carried out in Salvador da Bahia (Brazil) a suburb of Salvador. The study was part of a training exercise for students of the "International Course for Primary Health Care Managers at District Level in Developing Countries" based in Italy. The study also aimed to explore the potential for Primary Environmental Care and identify ways by which the local health district could support squatter communities. A rapid appraisal was carried out in three squatter communities. Secondary data was analysed, life history interviews were conducted, a "risk map" was drawn in which local participants geographically located problems, focus groups and ranking, key informant interviews, ten institutions with an interest in environmental issues were interviewed, and a feed-back meeting was held for all community members. It is concluded that RRA is well suited to study fast-changing environments, a potential danger of the exercise is taken to be undue expectation-raising of the local community. Finally "microplans" are introduced as a possible means of making RRA action oriented. Five pages are devoted to illustrations arising from the exercises.

In the West African nation of Togo mid-level health workers are being routinely trained to conduct focus-group interviews with mothers of children under five. The intent is to establish qualitative data bases that complement conventional survey data. The authors document the findings of a five-day training programme during which health workers collected data from 81 focus groups (324 mothers). Two unanticipated effects emerged: firstly that the focus group method democratized data gathering by forcing health workers out of their perceived roles as experts and teachers; secondly that by stimulating this shift in roles community competence was enhanced, thereby promoting collaborative programme planning by health workers and target villages. Evidence is given that focus-group discussions paved the way for highly successful education campaigns which dramatically increased child vaccination rates.

This article outlines one of a series of workshops conducted for NGOs and local Government officials in Tamil Nadu by the Society for Peoples' Education and Economic Change (SPEECH). The 23 participants spent four days learning PRA theory and conducting fieldwork in a village near Tiruchuli. The workshop also analysed group dynamics and recorded the very favourable impressions of participants. Examples are given of village maps, models, matrices and linkage diagrams.

This article consists of observations arising from the author's visits to several NGOs on the Indian sub-continent. Four main suggestions are made: conduct limited direct observations; use pile sorting techniques with key informants; experiment by modifying the pile sort technique; conduct key informant interviews on issues relating to the context of women's health.

This study focuses on sustainability in relation to people's visions of the future in Tamil Nadu, South India. The farmers' environmental awareness and ideas about resource use, as well as their visions for the future were analyzed. Information was gathered using various methods including transect walks, semi-structured group and individual interviews, and mapping. The methods used and the findings of the study are presented and discussed. The villagers perceived that the present system of land use was neither environmentally nor socially sustainable. Suggestions are made of ways to encourage local people to integrate environmental concerns into their agricultural and social planning.

El diagn¾stico se llev¾ a cabo en el marco del 5 Taller sobre DRP de la UADY del 15 al 25 de Noviembre de 1994 en Merida. El fin de este trabajo de campo tambiÚn era contribuir al proyecto de "Evaluaci¾n de proyectos agroecol¾gicos campesinos" que se va e realizar en esta zona de Yucatßn. El DRP dur¾ 4 dÝas, el equipo trabaj¾ en le comunidad de Mama, que partenece a las ciudades de Tekit y Oxcutzcab en Yucatan, MÚxico. El objetivo del DRP era: conocer las percepciones de los campesinos acerca de la labranza mÝnima a travÚs de una anßlisis participativa enfoqueando en la dinamica campesino-campesino. Se utilizaron la major parte de las herramientas del DRP.