The Tribulations of Fieldwork

Andre Beteille Despite the absence of clearly defined procedures for making intensive field studies, a great deal of of the systematic information that we have about social reality in contemporary India is based on this kind of study. Some of our best insights into kinship, religion and local-level politics come from intensive studies made by social anthropologists using the method of participant-observation. Although this approach has so far been used mainly in the study of village communities, it can he applied to the investigation of practically any sector of contemporary society.