Vogel always stresses that when researching a society it is not enough to just look at the overall situation and understand the economy and politics. It is even more important to look at things on a small scale, to make a lot of contacts, and to understand individuals and families as the basic units out of which society is organized.
傅高義一向強調，研究一個社會不僅要能大處著眼，理解其經濟、政治等運作；更需要從小處著手，多接觸、瞭解個人、家庭等社會組成的基本單位。