It is hypothesized that non-optimal ethnographic fieldwork conditions
result in a relatively constant rate of random reporting error compared to
more optimal conditions. If this is so, when fieldwork variables such as
length of field stay are controlled in tests of cross-cultural hypotheses, the
lesser amount of random reporting error for the optimal cases should tend
to raise cross-cultural correlations, and the greater amount of error for
the non-optimal cases should tend to lower them. This hypothesis is tested
and confirmed.
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