Careful observation will teach you much about the culture you seeks to reach. However, if we go no further in our investigation than to observe incidents, we are forced to conclude solely on our interpretations of what we see.

We must follow up those observations with carefully-worded interviews to get an explanation from the local viewpoint. Interviewing will also be necessary if we are to study areas of the culture that either cannot be readily observed or for some reason are not commonly or openly talked about.

Tribal concepts of guardian spirits, creator gods, beliefs about the soul, ideas about property, values and morals, are not observable "incidents" for the most part, yet an understanding of these areas is certainly important in reaching our objective as missionaries.