The Priority of Field over Theory in Presenting Helping Theory in Iran

Basically, the process of theory building, whether qualitative or quantitative, requires several observations. In the cycle of science production, there is an obvious link between theory and method; i.e. theorization is a result of continuous interaction between observations, explaining them and new observations to explain the former ones. The theories based on fieldworks are to discover and argue the field data which is collected by the researcher who had been present in the field of research. In fieldworks, the researchers are in close contact with the studied phenomenon. If they add participation to their observations and identify themselves with the studied phenomenon, then they will be able to prepare the ground for a deep understanding of it. The methodology of the book ‘Anthropology of Helping’ is indicative of a special scientific style in presentation of findings by the author. To present his findings, the author, as an anthropologist, frequently resorts to comparison and argumentation. He starts with argumentation and then continues with comparison. He uses his basic observations (resulted by living among rural people) for theory building and then, using his subsequent observations (resulted by fieldworks and library studies) he tests the theories. Meanwhile, to make his findings organized and easy to understand, he leaves abstractness and proves them using objective observations. Explanation of abstract concept using objective examples helps the readers to better understand the theoretical findings.