...ethnography
Fetterman [4] provides a good introduction to ethnography, the art and science of observing and describing a group or culture.

...scale.
When on the carpet, the base of the scale deflects under loading, the four points supporting the weighing mechanism shift and then the scale reads incorrectly.Why does the deflecting scale tend to read lighter rather than heavier than the actual weight? Charlotte Linde offers the theory that in the social practice of weighing, one shifts around until the reading is minimized.

mort@etp.com
Mon Oct 9 13:56:04 PDT 1995