I began research in Olowo with three general problems as my
focus: 1. why was the village founded, 2. how had it managed to
industrialize so rapidly, and 3. what would happen to it after a gener-
ation or so (i.e., around 1969). This focus was possible because of the
brief knowledge I had about the community, based upon a two-day
visit in 1964, and three published articles. ¹ In order to solve the first
and second problems, extensive historical and comparative analysis
was required. I assumed, however, that the reality of field work would
force me to devote all my time to Olowo. I also thought that the chances
of finding other villages that could serve as logically appropriate units
of comparison were remote. Shortly after the research began, how-
ever, I discovered that in the near vicinity there were numerous villages
that had emerged from the same religious movement that had created
Olowo. At first I could not decide which of them to select for compari-
son. After visiting Mimo (the theocracy founded in 1948), and learning
of its widespread influence even beyond Ilaje, I tentatively selected it.
This created a problem, however, because Mimo and Olowo were on
bad terms.

About a month later Talika became a branch of Olowo, and I made
a final decision to choose it as the comparative unit. Like Mimo, it
emerged out of the same religious movement as Olowo, was not or-
ganized communally, and had not developed. One advantage over
Mimo was that by virtue of its union with Olowo I could work there
without creating hostility. Another advantage was that it allowed me to
undertake two major projects in a single village: a comparative study of
the influence of religion, communalism, and other factors on de-
velopment, and a study of the branch movement. Most of my time was
spent in Olowo, with several short visits to Talika. Since Talika people
were constant visitors to Olowo, my research in the branch village in
one sense was continuous.

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