The following appeared in an article written by Dr. Karp, an anthropologist."Twenty years ago, Dr. Field, a noted anthropologist, visited the island of Tertia and concluded from his observations that children in Tertia were reared by an entire village rat

An article written by Dr. Karp takes issue with the Dr. Field study on children in Tertia twenty years ago. It seems that Dr. Karp have recently conducted a similar study as Dr. Field on children in Tertia. However, there are significant differences in Dr. Karp’s study and Dr. Field’s study. First the result of two studies were completely different and the methods of study was also different; Dr. Field’s study was observation-centered approach, and Dr. Karp’s study was interview-centered approach. From the differences, Dr. Karp leapt into conclusions that Dr. Field’s study is invalid and the interview-centered method is better than the observation-centered method in studying cultures. However, the conclusion is rife with holes and assumptions, and thus, look specious.

Dr. Karp cited Dr. Field study from twenty years ago. However, Dr. Karp never mentioned about the possibility of changes might have occurred during twenty years. Indeed, Tertia is an island, but that those not mean Tertia is isolated from outside influences. Also, it is possible that internal changes might have occurred during twenty years. Therefore, there is no guarantee that the culture of Tertia remained unchanged. Yet, Dr. Karp was not hesitant to claim that of Dr. Field, a noted anthropologist, was wrong about Tertia. Hence, the intention of making such a bold statement without considering any alternatives is very suspicious.

Furthermore, several terms in the articles is very vague. Dr. Karp implies that Dr. Field’s observation and the observation-centered approach is the same, but Dr. Karp neither described what exactly observation-centered approach is nor how Dr. Field observation was conducted. Thus, it is hard to see whether Dr. Field’s observation and the observation-centered approach is truly the same thing. Also, Dr. Karp used the phrase “the group of islands that includes Tertia.” However, Dr. Karp says that Dr. Field visited the island of Tertia instead of the group of islands. The group of island that includes Tertia and island of Tertia are not the exactly same subject, and the phrase itself is also very vague. Finally, Dr. Karp contend the interview-centered method is better than the observation-centered approach, but Dr. Karp did not described neither of the two methods nor any difference between the two. Hence, the reader does not know whether the two method is significantly different in their approach, and what makes one better than the other.

Additionally, Dr. Karp claims that his interview-centered method is better than observation-centered study. However, Dr. Karp does not provide any statistical figure or examples to prove his claim. First of all, Dr. Karp’s study was not about finding a better way to study cultures. Dr. Karp, just like Dr. Field, only studied the culture of Tertia. Dr. Karp’s argument is based on the fact that the Dr. Field’s conclusion is invalid, which is not a fact but his another claim. Therefore, Dr. Field’s study cannot be a true example to prove his argument. Also, even if Dr. Field’s study was proved to be wrong, just one example is not enough to support Dr. Karp’s a broad claim that the interview-centered method is better than observation-centered study.

Dr. Karp is contending that he debunked Dr. Field’s conclusion, and he proved his method is better than Dr. Field’s method. However, he fails to realize various changes might occur during twenty years, to clearly state the words used in the articles, and to provide sound evidences or examples in the article. Hence, readers might doubt on his intention on making a bold statements as just to get an attention by claiming that he proved a noted anthropologist wrong. To better evaluate Dr. Karp’s argument, the readers need to know whether he have considered other possible explanation to the phenomena, exact method of Dr. Karp’s and Dr. Field’s study, and more examples.