Self-deception and self-discovery in fieldwork

This paper shows how fieldwork experiences create a situation in which the researcher and the native reveal their characters in the course of requesting and offering information about the study. The personalities of the fieldworker and the natives help to color and may even define the nature of the interaction. It would be a mistake to ignore the effect of character on the content of studies. Researchers learn about their own strengths and weaknesses as fieldworkers by examining that effect.This paper was originally prepared for the conference on Ethical Problems of Fieldwork, held by Joan Cassell and Murray Wax at Berkeley Springs, W.V., 1979, sponsored by the program in Ethics and Values in Science and Technology, National Science Foundation. I should like to give particular thanks to Murray Wax for his helpfulness and kindness in guiding this paper toward publication.