Participatory methods in anthropology and other fields of cultural research aim at turning informants into collaborators or co-authors. Researchers generally accept the idea of different knowledge systems and continue the practice of avoiding the critical appraisal of alien systems that is common in ethnography. However, if informants are to be treated as collaborators, or ideally as colleagues, they become effectively a part of the research community. Helen Longino has formulated criteria according to which the objectivity of research communities can be evaluated. These criteria rest heavily on the idea of effective peer criticism, and require appraisal of the reasoning and background assumptions of all members of the community. Avoiding the appraisal of alien knowledge systems is problematic when the alleged systems of the researcher and the researched are in constant contact.