A Comparison of Methods of Increasing Parental Consent Rates in Social Research

Abstract

Previous research on children requiring written parental consent has indicated that this requirement reduces samples to half the size they might otherwise be and results in overrepresentation of whites and underrepresentation of blacks. Within the course of a four-year study, four methods were utilized to increase parental consent rates, particularly for black students. All methods increased consent rates. Providing an incentive to the parents increased consent rates significantly more for the white students than for the black students, while communication with the children and incentives to the children resulted in consent rates which were more similar for the two racial groups. Communication with the parents was the most effective method for both black and white children, but was also the most time consuming.