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From:
Peter Loring Borst <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Sun, 28 Jun 2015 09:27:40 -0400
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Hi all, 
I have been looking at info on survey validity but the same info could applying to sampling of various sorts. This is part of what I found:

"A measurement whose accuracy is completely unknown has no use whatever"

"A serious obstacle in the use of replications for increasing accuracy is the tendency to get closely agreeing repetitions for irrelevant reasons"

As the lead quotes from Wilson at the top of this article make clear, interviewing many inaccurate informants will not solve the accuracy/validity problem.

Surely our informants are not to blame for being inaccurate. It is not even their problem. People everywhere get along quite well without being able to dredge up accurately the sort of information that scientists ask them for.

Bernard, H. R., Killworth, P., Kronenfeld, D., & Sailer, L. (1984). The problem of informant accuracy: The validity of retrospective data. Annual review of anthropology, 495-517.

Wilson, E. B. 1952. An Introduction to Scientific Research. New York: McGraw-Hill

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