Anonymous vs. Confidential

UMaine Alert

Posted: April 19, 2024 - 1:32 PM

At approximately 9:24 a.m. on Friday, April 19, a University of Maine graduate student was struck by a university vehicle on Long Road at the University of Maine campus in Orono. The student reports that they are at a local hospital with minor injuries.

Emergency services, including the Orono Fire Department, University Volunteer Ambulance Corps, University of Maine Police Department, Orono Police Department and Penobscot County Sheriff’s Office responded to the scene.

The university vehicle involved in the incident was a Chevrolet Express van. It was being operated by a university employee.

Counseling services and support are available for students, faculty or staff who may have been affected. The Counseling Center can be reached at 207-581-1392 and the Dean of Students Office can be reached at 207-581-1406.

The scene has been cleared and Long Road is now accessible. An investigation is being conducted by the University of Maine Police Department with assistance from the Penobscot County Sheriff’s Office Crash Reconstruction Unit. Any witnesses to the incident are encouraged to contact Lt. Noel Santiago at noel.santiago@maine.edu.

When collecting data (most often from surveys), researcher will say that the data are anonymous or confidential.

The two words mean different things, and it is important for the participant, their protection, and their willingness to participate that the correct term is used.

Definitions

Anonymous

The researcher is not collecting any unique identifiers from individual subjects (for example, name, email, phone number).
The researcher is not collecting identifiers that, if combined, would be likely to identify a participant (for example, age, race, occupation, years in that occupation in a relatively small sample of participants).

In short, anonymous data can never be linked to an individual.

Confidential

Confidential data means that the researchers will be able to identify the participants, but, it also means that the data will never be reported in a way that allows a participant’s identity to be known (e.g., responses are combined with those of other participants and reported in aggregate form).

Summary

In short, an activity is confidential if participants provide identifying information but the connection
between participant and results is not shared.

Data cannot be both anonymous and confidential.