Lower Consent Rates Research Articles

Guardian consent for children's participation in sociometric research

Sociometric research has been plagued by low consent rates that potentially decrease the validity of assessment results. This study focused on ways to increase consent rates and documentation of guardians' reasons for nonconsent. A planned sequence of increasingly more personalized communication steps with parents yielded a 92% consent rate. Reasons for nonconsent ranged from children telling their parents that they did not want to participate to not having enough information about the research to make an informed decision. Discussion focuses on strategies that may increase guardian support for children's involvement in educational research.

A randomized controlled trial comparing quantitative informed consent formats

Informed consent has been indirectly studied only in settings that do not replicate the actual consent process. We designed a sham study and randomly allocated adult ambulatory patients to receive one of two consent forms: Consent A ( n = 52) described a randomized trial of usual treatment vs a new medication that “may work twice as fast as the usual treatment”; or Consent B ( n = 48) that described a randomized trial of a new medication that “may work half as fast as the usual treatment”. Patients randomized to Consent A were more likely to consent than those randomized to Consent B (consent rate A = 67%, consent rate B = 42%, p < 0.01). Among patients who cited quantitative information, the difference in consent rate was even more marked (95% vs 36%, p < 0.001); patients who did not cite quantitative information had equivalent consent rates. Patients who perceived minimal or severe symptoms had lower consent rates than those with mid-range symptom scores ( χ 2 2 = 8.35, p = 0.015). Patients who recognize quantitative information will use it to make informed consent decisions.

Faculty Response Rates to a Request for Information for a Study of Salary

A study of faculty was conducted at a state university to investigate response rates to a request for information relevant to faculty salaries. Faculty members were asked to sign an authorization form to release information from their personnel file and to submit a current resume that included professional activities. Only 25.5% of all 707 full-time faculty members agreed to release information from their personnel files, 14% refused, and 60.5% did not respond to two separate requests sent through a campus mail system. A higher refusal rate and lower consent rate was found among non-tenured instructors with fewer years of service who were not eligible to teach graduate courses. Faculty members who belonged to the organization which sponsored the salary study had a higher consent rate.