The first three steps of our methods deal with that part of culture investigation where we are in control. We decide what to map. We organize the house census. We plan how far to go in investigating the genealogies.

However, all the time we are involved in those endeavors, real-life "incidents" are taking place all around us. We should observe these incidents and be recording them in our field notes. We define an "incident" as one of those normal occurrences that take place within the culture, which we may or may not understand. It can be as obvious as an argument between a man and a woman or a house being built, or as unobtrusive as a man making an arrow or a woman butchering a chicken.

Remember the principle "culture is a way of living." As man reasons so he acts. Those tribal actions, however insignificant they may seem, have tribal values and ideals as their basis. Therefore, in order to understand the values, morals, and motives of tribal life, we must first understand the individual incidents that take place.

Obviously our investigation of them will be initially hampered by our lack of skill in the native language but eventually we will follow up our observations with interviews of tribal people, to look into the tribal explanation of the "incidents." 

With continued and sensitive probing we should be able to conclude about the incident from an indigenous viewpoint. In other words, to understand the plot of the play we need to understand each action, character, and piece of physical evidence from a local perspective.