Ethnographic Fieldwork: : Optimal Versus Non-Optimal Conditions

It is hypothesized that non-optimal ethnographic fieldwork conditions result in a relatively constant rate of random reporting error compared to more optimal conditions. If this is so, when fieldwork variables such as length of field stay are controlled in tests of cross-cultural hypotheses, the lesser amount of random reporting error for the optimal cases should tend to raise cross-cultural correlations, and the greater amount of error for the non-optimal cases should tend to lower them. This hypothesis is tested and confirmed.