Anthropologists should no more confine themselves with the study of small societies. Even when they do it they should have some large-scale objectives which are often related with policy issues. This is what I attempted in this article.
Chapter Displacement and Political Economy of Poverty Appraisal in W...
I am not sure but if my reading of the question is correct, the implicit conern in the Abhijit's question is whether we can generalize our findings from a small sample to a larger population. Apart from ensuring the external validity of our study; that is selecting a properly representative probability sample, we can follow the wisdom used by the experimental designs in order to generalize findings across spatio-temporal settings. The experimental studies and designs infer generalizability to larger spatio-temporal settings through frequent replications in diverse contexts and in diverse subsets of populations. Additinally, I think substantive policy questions can be examined through triangulation of qualitative and quantitative research designs and procedures.
Apart from these methodological concerns, I think, the question points to substantive theoretical challenge of thinking up post-positivist theories that not only entertain macro-level societal/cultural concerns but are also amenable to empirical testing.
Fazal's answer is excellent.But I think we need examples from our own works to explicate the matter for the wider interdisciplinary audience of Research Gate Let me give one such exampleI attempted to view the macro-level industrial policy of the government of West Bengal from a micro-level field based study in West Bengal in my book 'Land, Law and the Left...'One of my reviewer despite agreeing with my micro study questioned the macro generalizability of my conclusions. He however recommended funding for the book.He is a historian.The other reviewer, who wrote the Foreword said my sample, though not selected statistically is 'a drop in the ocean'! I posted this question to know more about the experiences of our friends in RG.Thank you very much Fazal for your perceptive and thought provoking answer.
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