ABSTRACT
Direct observation of a social event involves at least three specific limitations: (a) the external observer may become a stimulus to the event ; (b) his descriptions of objective factors need to be couched in the simplest of behaviouristic terms (the subjective elements in the interaction, which we believe to be highly important, will be lost to such an observer ; if he attempts to introduce these subjective elements later, he will be forced to utilize a method of general abstraction) ; (c) the conclusions reached by the external observer may be challenged by the participants in an event, and in that circumstance the observer has but one recourse ; he must rest his case upon his reliability as a person, or upon the reliability of his perceiving capacities. He may, of course, attempt verification by allowing other observers to observe similar events (since no two events are identical) and then rest his case upon the collaborated result.
