Field Methods and Techniques: Reciprocity as a Field Technique

In the past, young anthropologists often embarked on a first field trip in a spirit not unlike that of adolescent primitives facing initiation into the tribe. In solitary agony, supported only by the wise sayings of their anthropological ancestors, they met their crucial and mysterious ordeal. This old practice of sink-or-swim field experience was not in all respects unwise. A great deal of good field work and interviewing technique is analogous to the developmental experiences of life—phenomena which all social scientists must experience personally rather than vicariously.