The Problem of Informant Accuracy: The Validity of Retrospective Data
Abstract
Lee Sailer Department of Anthropology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15260 A measurement whose accuracy is completely unknown has no use whatever [Wilson ( 1 07. p. 232)]. A serious obstacle in the use of replications for increasing accuracy is the tendency to get closely agreeing repetitions for irrelevant reasons [Wilson (107. p. 253)1. My people don't lie to me (Anonymous Anthropologist).
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Some respondents fail to record all resource use, whereas others may exaggerate, especially regarding socially desirable activities.
“Some respondents fail to record all resource use (Hill and Davies 2001) whereas others may exaggerate, especially regarding socially desirable activities (Bernard et al. 1984).”
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- Authors
- Bernard, H. R., Killworth, P., Kronenfeld, D., & Sailer, L.
- Affiliations
- University of Florida (US)
- Venue
- Annual Review of Anthropology
- Publisher
- Annual Reviews
- Published
- 1984-10
- Volume
- 13
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 495-517
- ISSN
- 0084-6570 (ISSN-L)
- 1545-4290
- OpenAlex
- W2138386320
- Cited by
- 896
- References
- 3
- Citations by year
- 2026: 11 · 2025: 18 · 2024: 28 · 2023: 22 · 2022: 14 · 2021: 81 · 2020: 22 · 2019: 45 · 2018: 48 · 2017: 30 · 2016: 38 · 2015: 26 · 2014: 40 · 2013: 29 · 2012: 47
- FWCI
- 58.97
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Annual Review of Anthropology (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Survey Methodology and Nonresponse
- Social Sciences › Decision Sciences › Statistics, Probability and Uncertainty › Reliability and Agreement in Measurement
- Social Sciences › Decision Sciences › Management Science and Operations Research › Psychometric Methodologies and Testing
- Keywords
- informant accuracy, retrospective data, measurement validity, replication, anthropological fieldwork
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