How to Know When to Require Informed Consent in Research

It's important to know when to get informed consent from research subjects.

Conducting research is necessary to arrive at a fuller understanding of your subject matter. When using human participants in your research you need to find out whether you need to get informed consent or not. The ethical researcher acquires informed consent in research situations when it is necessary.

Instructions

1. Determine if a survey or questionnaire that uses true/false or multiple choice questions will provide that data you need. If you need participants to answer survey questions in their own language, you need to acquire informed consent.

2. Determine how many participants you need. If you are using only a small number of participants, you should get informed consent from them.

3. Decide whether you can allow participants to remain anonymous or if you'll need to use personal information about them. If you need identifying information about them, you should get their informed consent. If you need participants to answer questions containing potentially controversial or sensitive language, you also should get their informed consent.

Tips & Warnings

• Ask for informed consent in any research situation in which you have doubts about whether you need it. It is better to err on the side of safety.

References

• Healthcare Partners: Informed Consent of Research Subjects
• School of Education, Universiy of Massachusetts: Appropriate Informed Consent
• University of Wisconsin-Parkside: When do I need to get the subject's informed consent?