ABSTRACT
This chapter is concerned with the validity of data secured by the informal anthropological research technique designated as "participant observation." An observer's perception of a community will be compared with data obtained by sample survey techniques. The various scaling procedures are, in part, designed to test the data for "internal consistency" in the general sense. The participant observer's knowledge of the community was based upon one year of intensive contact as a resident, interviewing and observation, and the experience gained in the administration of the survey. The participant observer was assisted in making the prestige ratings by a graduate student who had done field work in Springdale. The task was undertaken to provide a measure of prestige for the purpose of testing a theory of primary social integration. The Springdale research is sponsored by the Department of Child Development and Family Relationships in the New York State College of Home Economics at Cornell University.
