[pct-l] PCTA records

[Jeffrey Olson]

It is very easy to enter numbers and demographics into a spreadsheet or 
statistics program WITHOUT ever divulging the name of a person.  The 
person doing the entering usually signs some sort of agreement with the 
organization who has the data guaranteeing anonymity.  When the data 
collector leaves the raw data, s/he also leaves any possibility of 
identifying individuals by name. 

S/he then aggregates the data and can report descriptive statistics, and 
maybe even some correlations (high snow  years related to number of 
starters to finishers, for example).  The key here is that once 
aggregated, data cannot be dis-aggregated anonymity is guaranteed.  If 
someone wants to report individual level data, they need that 
individual's permission. 

I could see someone reading all the trail registers to track how far a 
person actually hiked.  Of course they'd lose people like me who hike 
long sections and don't make the effort to "sign in."  So the 
"population" of subjects would be those who sign into trail registers.  
The motivated researcher could also query the listserv for those who 
didn't sign into trail registers and survey them, making up another 
"population."  For example, I met an older couple 10 years ago who hiked 
10 days every summer, and averaged five miles a day.  The researcher 
would have to decide what to do with this kind of data.  All of this 
might be fun. 

Ethically you would have to have a person's written permission to use 
their name in relation to any data collected, including trail register 
entries, which while public, have a specific intent.  Legally I suppose 
you could use a person's name, but ethically, no...

My two cents...

Jeffrey Olson
Martin, SD PCT 83, 91, 94, 96, 97, 98, 05, 07.