Anthropologists ask questions that are not generally asked, exploring meanings, patterns, rituals, silences, eliciting the profound complexity of ordinary life and common sense. Our methods are ideal for comprehending both past and present situations of transformation, such as those associated with changing climatological, political and social relations, and the necessity of strangers to live productively and peaceably with one another.

The value of this approach rests in the fact that what people say they do, think they do and actually do are not always congruent and may even be contradictory. Close attention to all three facets enables us to shed light on complex questions.