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Anonymity In Behavioural Research: Not Being Unnamed, But Being Unknown, Jacquelyn Burkell
Anonymity In Behavioural Research: Not Being Unnamed, But Being Unknown, Jacquelyn Burkell
FIMS Publications
EMPIRICAL RESEARCH IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES should help answer a crucial question: how does anonymity influence behaviour? A quick perusal of the literature, however, reveals that the answer provided by this research is far from simple. According to the empirical literature, “anonymity” has broad, varied, and inconsistent behavioural effects. A deeper reading reveals that the complexity of behavioural effects is matched by the complexity and variety in the empirical definitions of “anonymity.” Analysis of empirical manipulations designed to operationalize the concept reveal that they reflect three distinct concepts: 1) identity protection (withholding of name or other unique identifiers); 2) visual …