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one encounters forms of life that are simply unsuited for the set of conceptual tools developed by conventional ethnographic methods (1).
In other words, it would be a bias to see the study of the Ilongots as simply another investigation of people which fits neatly into the framework applied to earlier studies of other groups. There is also the potential bias of viewing a unique group like the Ilongots from the Western perspective, using Western standards of behavior. Rosaldo avoids such a bias by allowing himself to become involved in the lives of the Ilongots and to develop not only a sympathetic attitude, but to keep his own position in the research in mind.
Rosaldo selects a historical perspective, which allows him to compare his own approach to other, earlier ethnogr
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