Abstract This paper compares and contrasts two studies by anthropologist Elizabeth Marshall Thomas author of "The Harmless People" (1989, Vintage Books/Division of Random House Inc., New York) and Tim O'Meara author of "Samoan Planters: Tradition and Economic Development in Polynesia" (1990, Holt, Rinehart and Winston, Inc.) in terms of how they conducted their research.
From the Paper "Anthropological study no doubt is complex and it is even more complex when one want to study how external forces like globalization and development influence primitive civilizations. The emergence of a new nation takes a long time to detect and only one who is fluent in the local culture can sense a difference. Two anthropologists Elizabeth Marshall Thomas, author of "The Harmless People" [1989] and Tim O'Meara author of "Samoan Planters: Tradition and Economic Development in Polynesia" (1990) have attempted to do the most difficult task of depicting the cultures under their study in print. Thomas, proud studier of the Kalahari Desert Bushmen, based her study on their cultures, tradition and how they came about to accepting globalization and development prevalent in other parts of Africa. Similarly, O?Meara took to the task of investigating the people of Samoa, a state independent since 1901. "
