Citation

Epperson WV, Peck RC. Accid. Anal. Prev. 1977; 9(4): 249-256.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1977, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Six hundred and ninety-two California drivers were compared on four primary criteria to test whether anonymous responses to questionnaires differed significantly from non-anonymous responses. Subjects in the anonymous condition gave significantly more positive comments on forced choice questions. Subjects in the group setting did not respond to the questionnaire as frequently as subjects in the individual hearings.Subjects in the group setting emitted shorter responses and more negative responses than did subjects in the individual hearing setting. There was no interaction between type of session and anonymity, which suggests that anonymity is not a primary factor when collecting the types of information represented in this study. However, caution must be exercised in generalizing this finding to other types of information and situations, particularly where the data is of a personal or sensitive nature.