As a way to collect data, I conducted a literary analysis on articles and books relating to the efficacy, beliefs, and practices of herbal medicine in alternative healing systems. I utilized my findings from the literature review to examine what I learned and gathered from the data collected from my interviews. As part of my research, I conducted semi-structured interviews of a Chinese and a Native American herbalist about their beliefs and practices in regards to the herbs they use to treat illnesses. The interviews were conducted at a place of convenience for herbalists: either online through email or actually meeting up at
the herbalist’s
place of business with field notes taken. The Native American herbalist interview was done through regular mail and email with field notes taken on her responses. To interview the Chinese herbalist, I went to his place of business and recorded my notes using a tape recorder as well as taking extensive field notes on his responses. Included in my methods regarding the Chinese herbalist interview was a workplace observation used to compile data on where the herbs were gathered or combined. During the workplace observation, I focused on collecting data regarding the manufacturing of herbal products because contaminants such as pesticides and heavy metals can be introduced to herbal products during the manufacturing or combination process.
The adverse effects of herbal medicine may be attributed to the quality, or rather poor quality, of the manufacturing and production of these herbal products. The issues associated with quality of herbal medicine can be divided into two categories: external and internal. Internal and external factors can affect both the quality of herbal medicine and the products sold. Some examples of external factors include toxic metals, pesticides, and microbes. Internal factors include non-uniform ingredients (Zhang et al.2012:100-106). I used the list of internal and external factors affecting the quality of herbal medicine from the Zhang study and built upon it while conducting my own interviews. During the interviews, I asked each herbalist if they knew of any factors having a direct connection to the products they use, sell, and manufacture. Lastly, I applied this idea of internal and external factors affecting the quality of herbal products during my workplace observation of the Chinese herbalist (Zhang et al. 2012:100-106).Data collected from the herbalists on the efficacy of the herbal remedies was used to determine if the herbal products are safe or not by providing a list of risks and possible drug interactions to avoid. Included in the interviews, I inquired about how the proper dosage of each herbal product is determined and how are they administered.(See Appendix A for full set of interview questions). I also targeted the herbs that were used most often by each of the herbalists. After the conclusion of the interviews and data collection, I analyzed and compared the different types of herbs used by each of the herbalists. I also compared the different types of alternative medicine employed by each herbalist as a comparative study of complementary and alternative medicine healing systems. The herbalists interviewed gave their own interpretation of the alternative healing system that each employs and the herbal products which are most commonly used. An angle of my project that I used to deepen my analysis was to compare the local alternative healing systems of Chinese and Native American medicine to other alternative healing traditions. I also looked at consistencies within Native American medicine by comparing my findings to other traditional Native American styles of healing, such as the Cherokee and Lakota. David Winston was also used as a point of comparison in my research because he is a practicing Chinese herbalist also trained as a traditional Cherokee healer (Winston 2012). Using Winston in my research allows me to further my analysis on the consistencies within Chinese and Native American medicine. I also collected data from another semi-structured interview with the head of the local University of South Florida organization Complementary Alternative and Naturopathic Medicine (CANM), through email and field notes taken on responses. I examined how CANM increases awareness of herbal medicine to students and the community, as well as how they inform the public not only of benefits but also of the possible risks associated with certain herbal products.