Anonymity refers to situations where the acting persons identity is unknown. It is the quality or state of being anonymous. Anonymity is seen as a technique or a way of realizing certain values such as privacy or liberty. In mathematics, anonymity refers to the property of an arbitrary element within a well-defined set (called the "anonymity set") of not being identifiable within this set. Anonymity is directly related to the concept of obscurantism or pseudonymity, where an artist or a group attempts to remain anonymous, for various reasons such as adding an element of mystique to themselves or their work.
Anonymity can be guaranteed in research studies by not collecting identifying information of individual persons or by not linking individual responses with participants’ identities. If it is essential to collect and link identifying information to participants’ responses, research is not anonymous, and researchers must do their best to provide the utmost confidentiality of subject data.
