Measuring Perceived Anonymity: The Development of a Context Independent Instrument

Abstract

In order to assess relationships between perceptions of anonymity and behaviors, a context independent instrument is required for measuring the perceptions of anonymity held by individuals. To date, no such measurement instrument exists that has been shown to be reliable and valid. The authors employ a rigorous design methodology to develop, test, and substantiate a reliable and valid instrument for measuring perceptions of anonymity across different contexts. The PA measure presented is a five item Likert scale designed to measure perceptions of anonymity across multiple contexts. Results from two separate EFA pilot tests (n=61 and n=60), a test-retest, and a CFA final test (n=292) indicate that the PA measure has good internal consistency reliability (a=.82), test-retest reliability, factorial validity, and a single factor structure. DOI:10.2458/azu_jmmss_v5i1_hite

Keywords

• anonymity
• perceived anonymity
• anonymity measure
• anonymity perception