Anonymous or Confidentiality in Opinion Survey? (The Selective Aproach for Sampling in Surveys where are Included Delicate Questions)

Abstract

Who consults research methods books can easily make evidence of the stress for the need to insure the respondents anonymous in surveys where are used questions considered as delicate one. Generally is given the recommendation to avoid the delicate questions for gathering trustworthy data and in the case of impossibility to avoid them at least to insure the response confidentiality. In case of impossibility to avoid such a questions it is recommended to do the maximal efforts to guaranty the respondents’ anonymous or at least their reponses’ confidentiality. Both two alternatives are suggested especially for the studies where the use of delicate questions is part of study and it is impossible to avoid it. Here by our opinion the problem is if it is always valuable the alternative suggestion about the giving of guaranty for the respecting the respondents’ reponse confidentiality on absence of possibility to insure their anonymous.

DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2013.v4n2p593