Shamanism

Having read the interview with Michael Harner (http://www.shamanism.org/articles/article01page1.html) I find it the most compelling to date. I can't help but be swayed by his view of his universe and the supernatural. According to Harner a shaman is "a person who makes journeys to nonordinary reality in an altered state of consciousness." Harner notes that shamanism is "not a belief system" and "not a religion" but a method of interaction with an unseen world. I don't see any problem with fact that he believes what he studies because anthropology is not a hard science, anthropology, in my opinion, deals solely with subjectivity. Also how is Harner's belief different from the deductive approach to research; where a hypothesis is posed, data collected and assessed then related to the original hypothesis. A researcher often seeks to validate his own hypothesis or already has evidence (or assumptions) which originally led to hypothesis. The findings of a christian anthropologist studying Christianity are just as valid as a non-christian in the same field of study because problems must be tackled from all angles to gain the fullest possible understanding into the breadth and scope of the issue.