Epidemiology
In recent years however, medical anthropology in particular has taken on a larger role in the field of epidemiology. Medical anthropology looks at biological, social, cultural, and linguistic anthropology to understand how these factors influence health and well-being, experience and distribution of illness, as well as prevention of treatment. As with cultural anthropologists, medical anthropologists have continued to aid in the development of public health policies. In particular, they have been very helpful in providing a unique perspective on public health discourse. For example, they investigate how culture affects research studies, are able to pick up on seemingly "irrelevant" yet important small details that an epidemiologist might miss, and they are able to provide qualitative data whereas epidemiology only focuses on quantitative data. One main thing of importance here is that while epidemiologist has largely ignored cultural factors when looking at the causes of diseases/health conditions, medical anthropology has challenged this notion and contributed to the field by showing how culture and social factors play a big role in people's willingness to follow public health guidelines/interventions or even accept treatment for their illnesses.