ABSTRACT
The relationship between the “native’s” structuring of reality and the alien analyst’s structuring of reality comes up from time to time as a serious methodological question in social science. It arises in a number of forms. It has recently been prominent in discussions of componential analysis and generative grammar but has also been of some interest in more general social theory (for example, Does a clan need to be a named group? Is there class structure in a society without class consciousness—and,of course, the much larger problems of the relationship between stated norms and observed practices).
From American Anthropologist, 68: 362-373. Reprinted by permission of the publisher and the author. Muriel Hammer is Senior Scientist (Biometrics), New York State Department of Mental Hygiene and Columbia University.
