Confidentiality and anonymity

Adults

How can you ensure that adult participants’ confidentiality, anonymity and privacy is respected?

You should ask yourself:

1. Will you negotiate anonymity and confidentiality openly with all adult participants and if not, why not? (This may be justifiable in some instances, but requires careful consideration).

2. Are you up-to-date with data protection laws in the country and institution where your study is being carried out, and in the country where your research institution or university is based?

3. How will you store and transport your data securely?

4. How will you share data? It is becoming increasingly common to share research data via the world-wide web, and to use password protected virtual clouds for project sharing, yet all web-based information is susceptible to rogue use, so how much and what kind of data really needs to be stored or shared virtually, and what measures will you take to protect it?

5. What might be the implications for future dissemination, particularly regarding online dissemination?

Children

How can child participants’ confidentiality, anonymity and privacy be fully respected?

You should ask yourself:

1. How will you negotiate anonymity and confidentiality with child participants and their guardians, in ways that are meaningful to them?

2. What kinds of activities can you carry out with children that might help them understand these issues?

3. Are you up-to-date with data protection laws in the country and institution where your study is being carried out, and in the country where your research institution or university is based?

4. How will you store your data securely?

5. How will you share information about child participants, and who with? It is becoming increasingly common to share research data via the world-wide web and to use password protected virtual clouds for project sharing, yet all web-based information is susceptible to rogue use, so how much and what kind of data about child participants really needs to be stored or shared virtually?

6. What might be the implications for future dissemination, particularly regarding online dissemination and regarding any visual data?

Homes

In the home environment, the confidential atmosphere may contribute to children (and parents) disclosing details of their private lives that have no place in the research enquiry.

Researchers are faced with ethical dilemmas that require immediate, situated decisions to be taken, for example, whether to metaphorically, virtually or physically step outside the research space, to turn off any recording equipment or decide to erase private data after leaving the research site.

Parents/carers and children may have concerns about privacy that should be discussed openly prior to research commencing.

You should ask yourself:

1. Have boundaries for the research been agreed with participants?

2. If you are conducting interviews in the home environment, can they be overheard by anyone else? Could this cause embarrassment or offence?

3. If you are recording visual information, what details about the home environment might inadvertently be captured, and what measures will you take to protect anonymity?

4. What conditions might be imposed on you by gatekeepers, eg parents might ask to be informed about children’s play themes and any language use they consider improper.

5. Who will be with you when you are researching children at home? It is always advisable to have another adult present (eg a parent or carer) so you are never left alone with children.

Educational and community settings

When researching in educational institutions and the wider community (schools, nurseries, museums, libraries), researchers must familiarise themselves with local norms and practices with regard to anonymity and confidentiality. Researchers must consider how these might enhance or constrain participant confidentiality.

Educators or employees may be reluctant to speak openly about certain aspects of their work, or about individual children and parents/carers.

You should ask yourself:

1. Have issues of confidentiality and anonymity been agreed with gatekeepers and participants?

2. If you are conducting interviews in a school, preschool or public environment, can participant views be overheard by anyone else? Could this cause embarrassment or offence?

3. If conducting research in a relatively small setting, will other participants be able to surmise who said what, once the research is published in a report or in papers?

4. If you are recording visual information, what details about the setting (eg recognisable features in the environment) might compromise anonymity, and what measures can be taken to protect anonymity and confidentiality?

5. How will you respond if conditions are imposed on you by gatekeepers (eg educators might ask to be informed about any misbehaviour you observe), yet doing so might be viewed as compromising children’s confidentiality?

Virtual or online

There is a risk in online spaces that children and adults may view their online interaction as private to an intimate community of friendships, and expect all members of that community to respect their privacy.

In some online research, the presence of the researcher may be unknown and invisible to participants. Maintaining a covert position in online research is justified in some disciplinary guidelines, where information posted in online forums and social media is viewed as ‘intentionally public’, and is therefore open to be used without the need for consent.

Nevertheless, neither the public nor the intentional nature of any communication can be assumed, and must always be critically examined in the specific context of each study.

Researchers also need to give careful thought to issues of privacy that may be infringed by the digital footprints young participants leave behind through their participation in online research.