Twenty years ago, Dr. Field, a noted anthropologist, visited the island of Tertia. Using an observation-centered approach to studying Tertian culture, he concluded from his observations that children in Tertia were reared by an entire village rather than

The author of this passage asserts that previous studies on parentage method in Tertia, observed by Dr.Field, is incorrect. The author argues this by showing during interviews, local children spend much more time talking about thier biological parents than about other adults in the village. Further more, the author tries to convince us that his interview-centered methods are much more accurate than observation-centered approach in studying child-rearing traditions in all island cultures. However, such claims are based on weak assumptions, that, without detailed proof, cannot convince us of the author's statements.

First, the author's assumes children would talk more during an interview about the people they spend the most time with. This assumption is invalid based on current evidence. It could simply be that in this culture, it is disrespectful to talk about adults other than biological parents. Further more, factors such as the reliability of children giving honest answers to strangers, and the wording of the interview could all have significant impact on the out come of this observation. Even if we assume that these children are spending more time with their biological parents than with other adults, we do not know from the current evidence as to how much longer are they with biological parents. The children could still be technically spending more time with their biological parents while being raised by the entire village.

Second, even assuming that the author's method proves to be effective in Tertia, there is no reason to believe that it would work on every other island cultures. The entire basis for such claims is that island cultures all follow similar cultures, and would behave in similar fashion in an interview. However, common sense tells me that this is not the case. Island cultures vary vastly from one another, factors such as openess to strangers, or expressing oneself in words, all contribute to the validity of the interviews. Questions deemed fair by western observers could have hidden suggestions to the natives due to culture differences. We would need to carefully consider all such factors before deciding which method to use, observation, interview, or otherwise.

In sum, the argument in this passage, although profound in its implications, possess many deficiencies based on faulty assumptions, these short commings renders the argument unconvincing, and requires much more clarification and further observations before it could be effective.