At least three articles concerning anthropological and other research interests in Africa have appeared in recent years in the African Studies Bulletin: McCall's (1967) on the history of anthropological concerns and McKay's and Kopytoff's (both 1968) on “the research climate” in Eastern and francophone West Africa, respectively. In this paper I shall discuss some specific problems which the field anthropologist may face during the course of his research-problems the nature of which may not be foreseen in the preparatory stages, which may have few or no precedents in previous field-work situations, and which, in any case, receive little discussion in the literature on anthropological field methods. The problems to be discussed were encountered, or felt, by me in a specific location, and with specific research goals, but I think they reflect more than possible inadequacies in my own research methods and have potentially far wider application than merely to my particular field situation. Indeed, they could have important implications for the future of anthropological and other field research, both in Africa and elsewhere.

Research was conducted in Numan Division, Adamawa Province, North-East State, Nigeria, from September 1969 to April 1971. I had debated whether to mention specific names in this paper, but I have decided to do so, since “Village A” and “Chief B” and other such substitutions would be confusing, and especially since the situations to which I will refer are readily acknowledged and openly discussed by the people of the area. I will, however, avoid referring to particular persons by their given names.