Another technique related to techniques two and three was to directing of the discussion at some more distant part of the tribe, either in space or in time. For example, it was noted that the Toba informant consistently denied that dancing ever played an important part in pre-Christian Toba culture. This could indicate either that the informant had developed some rather deep-seated inhibitions about dancing or that his family had been sufficiently separated from the traditional ways of the tribe so that the informant had actually never participated in the dancing activities that had characterized his tribe in general. The anthropologist, therefore, shifted the emphasis and inquired about the dancing activities among the "less civilized" northern Toba whom the southern group calls Pilaga. These people, though dialectically different, are more or less identical culturally. Once the attention was focused upon this distant group of people, the informant was able to supply all types of information about their dancing patterns. In fact, it was not very long before he also began to suggest that there were some people in the local area that occasionally engaged in such activities. The technique of focusing on the more distant can be used in connection with different villages, rivers, or sections of the tribe. It permits the informant to stay neutral and noncommittal while talking about areas that he fears might be self incriminating.

As a variant of this technique, the "ancients" of the tribe can be made the focus of the discussion. Often this permits inquiry into areas that would be delicate for the present. Inquiry about the situation of the past often supplies the actual covert patterns of the present, which for some reason or other have become embarrassing." While asking about "the way things used to be" one New Tribes missionary confirmed his suspicion that a plant once used for medicinal and punitive purposes was still being used. His 12 year old culture helper exclaimed, "Sure! I know about ortega (the plant), Grandmother uses it all the time to drive away my pain."