No one is sure how potential subjects make up their minds to participate in research. The risk-benefit analysis they perform is unseen and unreported. It probably contains significantly irrational and illogical elements of judgment. What concerns us, however, is not whether subjects participate because their friends do, or because a friend asks them to; what concerns us is that we have presented the relevant facts as clearly as possible.
As noted earlier, one kind of information presented to potential subjects is designed to help them excuse themselves from participation. They are at unnecessary hazard within the research, and accordingly, researchers should not want them in the pool. Another group researchers should consider for exclusion are those with little empathy for the research. These people often provide spurious answers to surveys and misrepresent the cohort they are supposed to come from. Well designed surveys contain "reliability" and "validity" measuring questions for this reason. Informed consent documents can contain "Who Should Participate" statements which focus potential subjects clearly on the purpose of the research.
| Back | Next |
