What is meant by 'confidentiality' in psychological research?

Confidentiality in psychological research refers to the practice of ensuring that individuals involved in a study cannot be identified. This is crucial for protecting the privacy of participants and maintaining trust in the research process. Researchers often take measures to anonymize data, such as removing or altering any identifiable information that could link responses back to individual participants. This approach fosters an environment where participants feel safe to share honest responses, which is essential for obtaining valid and reliable data.

In contrast, other options misrepresent the concept of confidentiality. For instance, using personal names in reports directly violates the principle of confidentiality by exposing participants' identities. Providing participants with a detailed study report does not pertain to confidentiality; rather, it's more about transparency and communication of the research findings. Sharing data with other researchers can compromise confidentiality if that shared data contains identifiable information. Therefore, ensuring individuals are not identifiable is fundamentally what confidentiality entails in psychological research.