A basic methodological principle employed in this study is that of event-analysis (Wallace 1953). This approach employs a method of controlled comparison for the study of processes involving longer or shorter diachronic sequences (vide Eggan 1954 and Steward 1953). It is postulated that events or
happenings of various types have genotypical structures independent of local
cultural differences; for example, that the sequence of hapwnings following a
severe physical disaster in cities in Japan, the United States, and Germany,
will display a uniform pattern, colored but not obscured by local differences
in culture. These types of events may be called behavioral units. Their uniformity is based on generic human attributes, both physical and psychological,
but it requires extensive analytical and comparative study to elucidate the
structure of any one. Revitalization movements constitute such a behavioral
unit, and so also, on a lower level of abstraction, do various subtypes within the
larger class, such as cargo and revival cults. We are therefore concerned with describing the generic structure of revitalization movements considered as a behavioral unit, and also of variation along the dimensions characteristic of the type.