Essay On How Much Is Too Much Information In The Informed Consent Process?

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Informed consent is primarily regarded as a communicative process between people, namely between a researcher and research participants. The process implies a dialogue that relies upon the relevant interactions which may not always correspond to standard consent procedures. The procedures concentrate on potential respondents’ perception of the study, so there arises an issue of what they want and need to know about informed consent, which consequently influences researchers’ design of the study in terms of providing informed consent.
The standard consent procedure informs potential respondents about all of its elements: from a study’s purpose to contact information about their rights. Still, potential respondents can spontaneously request some elements of informed consent they want to know. The fact is that the more data about the consent they know or the more elaborate assurances of confidentiality they receive, the less desire they have to participate in the study. It is explained by the possibility of being asked awkward questions or their answers to be transferred to third parties.
Designing consent processes should be based on conversational dynamics, specifically considerations about what consent says and mainly presuppositions of likely subjects (Walkup & Bock, 2009, p. 62). Presupposition as an important explanatory technique is necessary for interactions to obtain informed consent. Also, researchers must avoid confusing informed consent statements but employ the selected ones in a conversation or a role playing context. Actually, the processes may depend on settings or clear study characteristics.

References

Walkup, J., & Bock, E. (2009). What do prospective research participants want to know? What do they assume they know already? Journal of Empirical Research on Human Research Ethics, 4(2), 59-63. DOI: 10.1525/jer.2009.4.2.59