Table of Contents
Definition of Anonymity
(noun) A research protocol in which neither the researcher or the reader of the findings can identify a respondent based on their responses; the state of being anonymous.
Examples of Anonymity
- Sending a survey to volunteers to discuss how to improve advocacy efforts.
- A website that asks students to rate their professors such as RateMyProfessor.com.
Anonymity Pronunciation
Syllabification: an·o·nym·i·ty
Audio Pronunciation
Phonetic Spelling
- American English – /an-uh-nIm-uh-tee/
- British English – /an-uh-nIm-i-tee/
International Phonetic Alphabet
- American English – /ˌænəˈnɪmɪti/
- British English – /ˌænəˈnɪmɪti/
Usage Notes
- Plural: anonymities
- Anonymity is not to be confused with confidentiality. When an individual can only be identified by the researcher who guarantees their responses will not be made public the person is protected by confidentiality not anonymity.
- Anonymous surveys (verb) anonymize data to make it (adjective) anonymous and to (adverb) anonymously assure participants have (noun) anonymousness.
Related Video
Additional Information
- Qualitative Research Resources – Books, Journals, and Helpful Links
- Quantitative Research Resources – Books, Journals, and Helpful Links
- Word origin of “anonymity” – Online Etymology Dictionary: etymonline.com
Related Terms
- cohort
- data
- hypothesis
- qualitative research
- quantitative research
- reliability
- research
- statistical analysis
- study
- survey
Works Consulted
Oxford University Press. (N.d.) Oxford Dictionaries. (https://www.oxforddictionaries.com/).
Wikipedia contributors. (N.d.) Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation. (https://en.wikipedia.org/).
Cite the Definition of Anonymity
ASA – American Sociological Association (5th edition)
Bell, Kenton, ed. 2014. “anonymity.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Retrieved April 19, 2024 (https://sociologydictionary.org/anonymity/).
APA – American Psychological Association (6th edition)
anonymity. (2014). In K. Bell (Ed.), Open education sociology dictionary. Retrieved from https://sociologydictionary.org/anonymity/
Chicago/Turabian: Author-Date – Chicago Manual of Style (16th edition)
Bell, Kenton, ed. 2014. “anonymity.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Accessed April 19, 2024. https://sociologydictionary.org/anonymity/.
MLA – Modern Language Association (7th edition)
“anonymity.” Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Ed. Kenton Bell. 2014. Web. 19 Apr. 2024. <https://sociologydictionary.org/anonymity/>.