Franz Boas

I heard this anthropologist, Franz Boas, mentioned during The Writer's Almanac program on NPR in July 2009.
I first heard of Franz Boas years ago on Tom Snyder's television show, The Tomorrow Show. 
As I recall, the person that talked about Franz Boas said that he went to Alaska and studied a tribe first hand. He lived like they lived, eat what they eat, and dressed as they dressed on certain occasions. Some photos of Boas dressed in ceremonial dress and performing some native dance was shown.
From this interview on Tom Snyder's television show, I got the impression that Boas went out into the field and studied human cultures first hand and used the scientific method. I also got the impression that this was not how anthropology was usually done in his time.