Abstract
Dealing with perceived respondent deception requires the realization that a respondent's account is only one of several possible versions that could be elicited contingent on the situational characteristics of an interview, the relationship between the observer and the observed, interviewer expectations, the presentation of the respondent's existential self, and the dialectic between the interpreter and the interpreted. To discourage deliberate deception, field-workers are well-advised to negotiate a happy medium between intimacy and distance during interviews, encourage a gradual unfolding of selves, maintain communication with peers, keep detailed journals, and access independent checks and informants whenever possible. In the face of suspicion and doubts, researchers can console themselves with the thought of the ambiguity of social reality and the idea that people are enigmas unto themselves. There will always be facets of a person's life that will elude even the most assiduous researcher. Essential to the protection of one's identity, personal secrets will remain within the umbra of the unknowable.
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