[3][4][7] He began missionary work by initially teaching at Allahabad Agricultural Institute, later joined by his wife Charlotte Viall, who arrived in India in 1916.
He then served as a professor of rural sociology at the North India Theological College, Sahranpur, between 1933 and 1941, after he finished his doctorate from Cornell University.
[3][7][8] Between 1925 and 1930, they lived in the village as members of the North India mission of the Presbyterian Church of the United States of America.
The survey turned into a detailed study of Indian village life, that ultimately extended till 1930 leading to several books to be published, including his doctoral dissertation Social Institutions of a Hindu Village in North India, that he submitted to Cornell University in 1933.
Their intensive research and experience led to pioneering work in Indian anthropology and publishing of books, namely, Behind Mud Walls in collaboration with Charlotte Wiser, The Hindu Jajmani System, and Social institutions of a Hindu village in North India, and more.
He was a co-opted member of the Tambaram meeting of the International Missionary Council in 1938, and his research is quoted extensively in The Economic Basis of the Church.