ABSTRACT
Research workers who deal with interview data frequently are asked the question: 'How do you know if the informant is telling the truth?' There are two questions that the research worker wants answered: What light does the statement throw on the subjective sentiments of the informant? And how much does the informant's report correspond in fact to 'objective reality'? How much help any given report of an informant will be in reconstructive 'objects reality' depends on how much distortion has been introduced into the report and how much we can correct for this distortion. The problems of distortion are heavily compounded if the researcher is dealing with informants who are giving him second hand reports. The informant quite consciously modifies the facts as he perceives them in order to convey a distorted impression of what occurred.
