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A valid and reliable anthropological measurement must be culturally appropriate for a particular social setting. Justifying the appropriateness of a measurement often depends on the skill of the researcher in describing the ethnographic setting. This has resulted in valuable research, but it is difficult to systematize and lacks transparency.Here the authors present a measurement model for anthropology that links structured ethnographic methods-cultural domain analysis and cultural consensus analysis-to the assessment of individual behavior and personal beliefs. These procedures are illustrated with the concept of cultural consonance, or the degree to which an individual approximates in his or her own behavior or belief the shared cultural model in some domain. The concrete steps taken to develop measures of cultural consonance in four domains (lifestyle, social support, family life, and national characteristics) are described, and the reliability and validity of these measures are evaluated. This describes a measurement model for anthropology. This article describes the measurement of individual beliefs and behaviors relative to a particular cultural context. Formal hypothesis testing in anthro-

RESUMO. Objetivou-se investigar, através da Escala de Desenhos de Silhuetas, a percepção de tamanho e forma corporal de 150 mulheres, divididas com base no índice de massa corporal (IMC) em cinco grupos: não-obesidade, sobrepeso e obesidade graus I, II e III. As escolhas foram classificadas em representações de tamanho e forma corporal normal, real e ideal. Evidenciou-se que as escolhas de homem e mulher de tamanhos normais, nos cinco grupos, foram associadas a representações de baixo peso. Na auto-avaliação de tamanho e forma corporal real, notou-se ampla distribuição de escolhas, sendo que, com exceção do grupo com sobrepeso, a maioria das mulheres dos demais grupos fez escolhas compatíveis com seu IMC. O tamanho e forma corporal ideal foram associados a figuras representativas de baixo peso. Os dados apontam para a relevância das diferenças entre adequação da percepção real e ideal, sinalizando a direção das dificuldades relativas à autopercepção corporal.Palavras-chave: imagem corporal, obesidade, auto-avaliação. PERCEPTIONS OF BODY SHAPE AND SIZE IN WOMEN: AN EXPLORATORY STUDYABSTRACT. The objective of the present study was to investigate women's size and shape body perception using the Ninefigure Outline Scale. A total of 150 women were divided into five groups according to body mass index (BMI): non-obese, overweight and grade I, II and III obese women. The options were classified in representations of normal, real and ideal body size and shape. It was evident that the men and women's choice for normal sizes, in the five groups, were predominantly connected to the representation of low body weight. In the self-assessment of the real body size and shape, it was noticed a broad distribution of choices, although with the exception of the pre-obesity group, the majority of women from the other groups made compatible choices with their BMI. The ideal body size and shape was associated with representative figures of low body weight. The data indicate the relevance of the differences between the adequacy of real and ideal perception, pointing at the difficulties related to body self-perception.