The efficacy of non-anonymous measures of bullying

The Olweus checklist, along with most of the questionnaires commonly used in bullying research, is anonymous. The respondent is not required to put down his/her name. This has been accepted as the 'best suited' method of assessing bullying. However, this assumption has not been adequately tested, and there is contrary evidence that this method is more conducive to obtaining more truthful responses from the respondents. This study tested the issue of anonymity versus non-anonymity experimentally using a balanced design. A total of 562 elementary school children (grades 1-8) from two inner-city schools in Toronto took part in the study. The findings supported the hypotheses that the respondents did not differ in their report of the incidence of either bullying or victimization, regardless of whether they were required to identify themselves by writing down their names on the questionnaire forms. The advantages of using non-anonymous questionnaires in bullying and victimization research, as well as in intervention work in schools, are highlighted.