Book Reading #2 (and #6): Microblog for Coming of Age in Samoa

Reference
Title: Coming of Age in Samoa
Author: Margaret Mead


Chapter 1
Summary
The first chapter is an introduction to the rational behind using Samoa for the author's study, and some of the factors considered in the study. As the author explains, the purpose of her study is to better understand teenagers undergoing adolescence  This chapter also has some discussion on how this ethnography could benefit our own culture.
Discussion
A large part of the author's rational regarding the purpose of her study seems to hinge on the concept that by analyzing a stage in a radically different culture and then cross referencing it with the same stage in our own culture, you can gain insights that you may not have been able to see before hand. While this article doesn't have much to do with the C part of CHI, I still think it was a good read, and a great way to set the foundation for the HI part.

Chapter 2
Summary
The second chapter is largely a detailed account of daily family interactions. This includes all family members, including the adults and small children.
Discussion
While this chapter was effective at drawing the reader into the author's story and was very informative, the information is also pretty subjective. The concept of 'a typical day' is purely relative, although I concede that Margaret Mead, as an accomplished anthropologist, is better qualified to make this distinction than I would be. Nevertheless, the author still detailed only two days in this chapter, which to a purely objective reader is not anything to make inferences out of.

Appendix II
Summary
This appendix lists all of the considerations and assumptions made throughout the study, including allowances in the data collection process. The sample size (68 girls) and study constraints were also outlined here.
Discussion
This section is probably one of the most important in the book, as any study is irrelevant without the methodologies behind its collection process. I disliked that she needed to use translators to conduct interviews, as this introduces a second point of bias, but there wasn't much she could do about this aside from learning the native language.

Appendix V
Summary
This appendix outlines the content of data collected from the subjects, including information on each girl's test scores and social interactions. The information presented in this appendix came primary from questionnaires and tests.
Discussion
Most of the information presented is of the personal nature, although some things such as the intelligence test were more generic. I liked that the author gave these tests as it helps to give perspective on some of the other factors seen in the data. With such a small sample size, ruling out variables you are less interested in as contributers is important. On the downside, the test she gave wasn't standardized, which raises subjectivity questions regarding what the author considers to be intelligent. I understand that giving the girls a standardized test was not feasible though, but perhaps this raises the question that if any intelligence test, no matter how carefully tailored, would really provide useful information.