ABSTRACT
This paper explores the ethical challenges of participant representation and anonymity that I faced as a researcher while conducting qualitative research in the Maldives for a UK university:
I realised the truth of Hoonard’s statement during the write-up of my research study. Until then I thought I had done everything to ensure the anonymity of my participants. I took the signal to go ahead with my research by the research ethics committee of my UK university as an indication that I had addressed the necessary ethical standards. However, I began to reflect more deeply on the ethics of anonymity as I analysed my data and wrote about ethical procedures and was soon confronted with a dilemma: Did the procedures I used for anonymity actually protect my participants’ identity? How could I represent my participants to the point that they deserved acknowledgement and yet still ensure their anonymity?
