Which term is defined as not collecting identifying information about participants?

Which term is defined as not collecting identifying information about participants?

• A. Anonymity
• B. Confidentiality
• C. Informed Consent
• D. Data Structure

Answer: (A)

Anonymity means not collecting identifying information about participants or ensuring there’s no way to link responses to a specific person. By keeping names, contact details, or any data that could identify someone out of the dataset, researchers protect privacy and reduce the chance that individuals can be identified even by the researchers. This is different from confidentiality, where identifying information may be collected but is kept private and access to it is restricted; the link between data and person can exist, but is controlled. Informed consent is about obtaining participants’ voluntary agreement after they’ve been informed about the study, and data structure refers to how data are organized and stored. So, not collecting identifying information to preserve participant anonymity is the concept described.

Anonymity means not collecting identifying information about participants or ensuring there’s no way to link responses to a specific person. By keeping names, contact details, or any data that could identify someone out of the dataset, researchers protect privacy and reduce the chance that individuals can be identified even by the researchers. This is different from confidentiality, where identifying information may be collected but is kept private and access to it is restricted; the link between data and person can exist, but is controlled. Informed consent is about obtaining participants’ voluntary agreement after they’ve been informed about the study, and data structure refers to how data are organized and stored. So, not collecting identifying information to preserve participant anonymity is the concept described.