1. Critiques of the work of Margaret Mead (1901-1978)

2. Coming of Age in Samoa 1928

3. Orans’ Conclusions Mead did not bother to clearly define the problem or the elements of the problem. She undertook no study of adolescent/parental relations in the US by which she could make a comparison. Mead never did master Samoan, so she was largely restricted to informants that could speak English. Her sample of informants was small and haphazardly chosen (“grab bag”).

4. She relied on self-reporting or gossip. Made no effort at independent verification. She made sweeping generalizations about Samoan sexuality and culture on the basis of the testimony of a single informant, or on no data. Like Ruth Benedict, Mead stereotyped Samoan culture, ignoring recent Samoan history. Her work was polemical, not scientific. She made “lawyer’s arguments”. “Profoundly unscientific.” Her arguments were contradicted by her own data.