The village under study is situated between Udorn and Nongkhai in
the northeast. The study had its beginning in connection with a
UNESCO program related to curriculum changes in primary education
made in 1961-62. The pupils in Grade 1 and their parents were the
research sample then. Other basic information needed to make a survey
of customs and rites connected with pregnancy and childbirth was also
provided then. This special area was studied in detail in 1968, in
thirty-three of the fifty-two families who were our research sample
initially.
In