 Merriam had, like all ethnomusicologists, completed fieldwork in his area of interest, but he was characterized by his peers in ethnomusicology as being more scientific and focusing on drawing conclusion from data.In his own writings, he emphasizes the application of data gathered in the field to solving relevant musical problems and how such application is motivated by the approach and goal of the researcher.Further, he claims the indispensable link between the data gathered in the field and the conclusions drawn from it by proposing his opinion on “armchair ethnomusicologists”