VI
works of a similar character; in the present volume, an attempt
has been made to make the scope of the investigation as compre-
hensive as possible, by collecting data on almost all the aspects of
social and economic life of the people of the village. It will be
obvious that this effort made it necessary to work out the exact
method to be followed in each case. Problems of scope and
method which arose during the course of this investigation were
fully discussed by the author with me at each stage. Full
account was taken in these discussions of the methods that were
followed by other investigators, so far as they could be ascertained,
before determining the line of action. Though we do not claim
finality about these methods, it is expected that the comprehensive
scope of the present work, and the explanations of the method
followed, will help in the scientific study of this important branch
of Indian Economics to which increasing attention is being
naturally paid.
Another difficulty in such investigations is the selection of
the village from the point of view of its representative character.
A village typical of all important conditions existing in a
particular large area is an ideal impossible to achieve, but it
is desirable that the selected village should be as far as possible
representative of conditions in the larger area of which it
forms a part. With this view, a preliminary tour covering about
20 villages in South Gujarat was made by Mr. Mukhtyar.
With the impressions thus gathered and with the co-opera-
tion of Diwan Bahadur A. U, Malji, Chairman, Gujarat
Branch, Bombay Provincial Co-operative Institute and his
co-workers, it was decided to select the village of Atgam in
Bulsar Taluka of the Surat district as one fairly representative of
conditions in South Gujarat. The actual investigations involved
a stay of about 200 days in the village on the part of Mr. Mukhtyar.
This was not a continuous stay, but comprised several visits
during different seasons. The work was begun by the end
of 1926, and was finished by the beginning of 1928, so that the
facts related may be taken to be true of the year 1927. Mr. Mukhtyar
was fortunate in getting the sympathy and help of several men,
official and non-official in this survey. Among these, special
mention must be made of Mr. Manibhai H. Desai to