%0 Journal Article
%T Anonymity in Behavioural Research: Not Being Unnamed, But Being Unknown
%A Jacquelyn Burkell
%J University of Ottawa Law and Technology Journal
%D 2006
%I 
%X 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 anonymity (being unseen by communication partners); and 3) action anonymity (where the content and even existence of actions are unavailable to others). The first of these manipulations closely matches the traditional definition of anonymity, while the second and third relate more to being known (visually or by one¡¯s actions) than to being identified. Thus, in the context of behavioural research, anonymity is defined in two intertwined ways: as lacking unique identifiers and as being hidden from public scrutiny. *************** La recherche empirique en sciences sociales devrait aider ¨¤ r¨¦pondre ¨¤ une question cl¨¦ : quel est l¡¯effet de l¡¯anonymat sur le comportement? Un bref survol de la documentation r¨¦v¨¨le, toutefois, que la r¨¦ponse qui se d¨¦gage de ces recherches n¡¯est gu¨¨re simple : les effets de l¡¯anonymat sont nombreux, vari¨¦s et incoh¨¦rents. Une lecture plus attentive r¨¦v¨¨le que la complexit¨¦ des effets de l¡¯anonymat sur le comportement est comparable ¨¤ la complexit¨¦ et ¨¤ la diversit¨¦ des d¨¦finitions empiriques du terme   anonymat  . L¡¯analyse des manipulations empiriques visant ¨¤ en op¨¦rationnaliser le contenu d¨¦montre qu¡¯il existe trois concepts distincts : 1) la protection de l¡¯identit¨¦ (la dissimulation du nom ou d¡¯autres identificateurs uniques); 2) l¡¯anonymat visuel (la pr¨¦servation de l¡¯invisibilit¨¦ aux yeux des partenaires en communication); et 3) l¡¯anonymat des actes (la dissimulation aux autres ¨¤ la fois du contenu des actes et des actes m¨ºmes). La premi¨¨re de ces manipulations correspond ¨¤ peu pr¨¨s ¨¤ la notion traditionnelle de l¡¯anonymat. La seconde et la troisi¨¨me ont trait davantage ¨¤ la connaissance de l¡¯individu (visuellement ou par ses actes) qu¡¯¨¤ son identification. Par cons¨¦quent, dans le contexte de la recherche sur le comportement, l¡¯anonymat comporte deux d¨¦finitions entrelac¨¦es : l¡¯absence d¡¯identificateurs uniques et la protection
%K Anonymity
%K concept
%K empirical research
%K communication
%U http://www.uoltj.ca/articles/vol3.1/2006.3.1.uoltj.Burkell.189-203.pdf