I have met people who study cultures directly and know what they're talking about. It's why I always check how they did their study first. I've discovered that people in other fields have no idea how anthropology or history work. Computer science is right out.

I've been told the only way to find out information is to sit in a formal interview to do anthropology. We haven't done that in decades. It doesn't work, because it's so out of the norm for the interviewee that they either lie or tell jokes the interviewer won't get.