When Prophecy Fails

"The behaviour of a small group of people who believe that they have been forewarned of the impending end of the world would be dismissed by many social scientists as interesting but hardly researchable. The authors of this book are to be commended, not only for undertaking a difficult task, but for doing it remarkably well...Using the participant observer method, this research team collected an impressive body of data in the brief span of two months. Their research resulted in convincing, if not definitive, confirmation of their hypotheses. At the same time, it constitutes a stimulating example of the adaptation of method to a significant subject, rather than the selection of the research topic because it fits the latest fads in methodology." [American Sociological Review].