This paper related that Elizabeth Marshall Thomas, author of "The Harmless People" (1989), and Tim O'Meara, author of "Samoan
Planters: Tradition and Economic Development in Polynesia" (1990), used simple anthropological research methodology to study the influence of external forces like globalization and development on primitive civilizations, such as the Kalahari Desert Bushmen and the Samoan planters. The author points out that both anthropologists situated themselves in the community being studied. O'Meara mixed with the local Samoan farmers to learn how they behave and interact, whereas, Thomas relied only on her observations of the Bushmen. The paper relates that O'Meara's method, limited by his research question, focused on
developmental stages rather than on how people evolved; on the other hand, Thomas concentrated on the outcome of her subjects' ways of living.