Stresses in polymeric materials can be measured by diffracting X-rays from embedded crystallites that yield suitable powder diffraction lines. An appropriate technique for this has been, reported by C. S. Barrett and Paul Predecki elsewhere and is reviewed here with additional details. It is based on a diffractometer modified so as to operate at very high 26 angles, with specimens prepared in various ways. Results show that adequate precision is reached by scanning Ka doublet in a few minutes and simply noting any displacement of peaks compared with peaks from an unstressed specimen; higher precision can be reached with slower scans or more detailed analysis of the peaks. Tests with embedded metallic particles were successful when the particles were (A) distributed throughout a moulded polymethyl methacrylate (Lucite) sheet of the order of a millimeter thick, alone or sandwiched between layers of particle-free material, or (B) embedded in polyester resin applied to a surface of Plexiglas bars, or (C) embedded in graphite-fiber epoxy composites in a layer at a chosen position within a specimen.