"''This manual attempts to make a contribution to the solution of several problems in the area of descriptive linguistic field-work, namely, those problems arising out of the need for accepted standards for the gathering, recording and reporting of linguistic data collected in the field.
Evidence that these poblems were more than a personal concern was given in New York City at the 1954 Annual Meetings of the Modern Language Association, where the author chaired a conference of Scholars held for the purpose of reviewing the current situation.