The anthropologist Dr. Karp states that the interview-centered approach to study cultures is more accurate than the observation-centered approach. He came to this conclusion because of this study in Tertia. Twenty years ago, Dr. Field did observation-based research in Tertia and concluded that the entire village reared the children in Tertia instead by their biological parents. Dr. Karp disagreed with this statement because his recent interviews with the Tertia population showed that they speak much more about their birth parents than about the other adults in the village than the people of the neighboring islands. The conclusion for Dr. Karp is based on several assumptions that might weaken the conclusion if one is proven wrong. Therefore we need more information to evaluate this conclusion correctly.
The first assumption the author makes is that nothing has changed on Tertia within the last twenty years. This might be wrong. The people, culture, and the way to rear children are changing continuously. We can also see this in our society. My parents had a different childhood as I had. Therefore, we would need evidence that proves that the way to rear children on Tertia has not changed within the last twenty years to conclude that the observation-based approach of Dr.Field is invalid.
The author does not prove the second assumption that the higher amount of speaking about one´s birth parents means that one is raised mostly by them. It could also be the other way around, that the speaking about its biological parents shows a psychological trauma, that one did not receive enough attention from its biological parents. We would need evidence that this is not the case to strengthen the author´s argument.
Finally, the author assumes that people always tell the truth in interviews. He does not include the possibility that somebody might lie. With the observation-centered approach, which takes place over several days, it is much harder for the observed to act not like themselves than the interviewed to lie. To conclude that the interview approach is more accurate about the traditions of a culture, we would need a prove that the interviewed do not lie.
To sum up, Dr. Karp based his conclusion on several unproven assumptions. If he can prove that his assumptions are true, his argument will become much more robust. Therefore, we need more information about the possible change in rearing children in Tertia within the last twenty years. Further, we need evidence that the higher frequency of speaking about its biological parents is linked to a high amount of time spend with them and finally, we need proof that the interviewed do not lie.
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