Anonymity Revisited
From The Embassy of Good Science
ResourcesCases
Anonymity Revisited
What is this about?
This fictional case is about an applied medical anthropologist who wrote a series of articles when she was working in an urban black community in the United States. She wrote her articles in an anonymous way so that individuals and/or the community would not be harmed. However, members of the community started a discussion because they were surprised that the name of the community health center and the name of the town were not given.
Why is this important?
Anthropological conventions specify the use of pseudonyms in certain types of anthropological reporting, specifically if there is any chance that individuals or a community might be harmed.
