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the distance between questioner and respondent—weaken its credibility as a
primary data collection technique. (See Fowler, 2008, and Fowler & Cosenza,
2009, for an excellent presentation of survey research methods; see Fowler, 2008;
Fowler & Cosenza, 2009; Groves, Lyberg, Massey, Nicholls, & Waksberg,
1988; and Lavrakas, 1993, 2009, about telephone surveys; and Hagburg, 1970,
about the validity of questionnaire data.)
PROJECTIVE TECHNIQUES
Projective techniques are also useful in ethnographic research. Projective tech-
niques supplement and enhance fieldwork; they do not replace it. These tech-
niques are employed by the ethnographer to elicit cultural and often
psychological information from group members. Typically, the ethnographer
holds an item up and asks the participant what it is. The researcher may have
an idea about what the item represents, but that idea is less important than the
participant's perception. The participant's responses usually reveal individual
needs, fears, inclinations, and general worldview.
The Rorschach inkblot tests are a classic projective technique. The psy-
chologist or psychiatrist holds up a series of inkblots and asks the patient to
interpret them. The clinician makes a diagnosis based on the information the
patient provides. Anthropologists have used the Rorschach, the Thematic
Apperception Test, and a variety of other psychological tests to investigate spe-
cific hypotheses (Pelto, 1970; Spindler & Spindler, 1958). The use of projec-
tive techniques in fieldwork presents some difficulties, however. First, the
researcher needs special training and experience in administering the tests and
in interpreting the responses. Second, these tests are culturally biased—
relevant primarily to the culture that produced them. Unless the researcher
adapts the tests—or the interpretation of them—to the culture under study, the
interpretations may be inappropriate and the findings misleading.
Many anthropologists adapt these tests to fit the local context. Others
simply use classic projective techniques to elicit a response from a participant
and then use judgment and intuition (based on an understanding of the com-
munity) to interpret the response appropriately. Still other anthropologists
invent projective techniques to suit their purposes. I typically share pictures
and brief videos of the group I am working with while I am on site or in their
community. In part, it is a natural form of reciprocity. However, it also yields
important data. The pictures or videos elicit both confirming and unexpected
comments. In the dropout study, the students yelled “Idi Amin,” when they saw
the director's picture. This surprised me because I had only heard high praise
