Issues related to the reliability and validity of self-reported behavior within a deviant population
are examined using data obtained from narcotics addicts in two face-to-face interviews conducted 10 years apart. The same measures of behavioral self-report for an overlapping period
of 4-5 years were collected at each interview and were analyzed within a test-retest design.
Agreement between measures obtained at the two recall points was reasonably good except for
low-frequency behaviors and for measures of income and monetary costs. The correlation
coefficients of the intervariable relationships measured at each interview increased as the
constituent item reliabilities increased. Urinalyses conducted at each interview generally
validated recent self-reported narcotics use.
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