The reliability and consistency of drug reporting in ethnographic samples

Abstract

Findings are addressed concerning the reliability of reporting on drug dealing and drug use. Reports provided in retrospective life history interviews are compared with reports gathered and summarized from eight prospective weekly interviews. Most subjects reporting involvement in drug dealing during the weekly interviews, also reported involvement in this behavior during the life history report. There was a tendency for subjects to deny current involvement in drug dealing during the life history reports, even though they reported involvement in drug dealing in the weekly interviews. Binary indicators derived from life history interviews about current drug use were consistent with reports provided prospectively. Subjects reported considerably higher use quantities and frequencies for substances in the life history reports than they did in the weekly interview reports. These results are examined in the context of other recent work examining the reliability of retrospective substance involvement reports. Implications for ethnographic research on drug use are discussed.