ABSTRACT

Typically, parents or other legal guardians are asked for an active declaration that the participation of their child in scientific research is informed and voluntary. However, asking for active parental consent leads to lower quality studies and passive parental consent might be preferable. In this study, we used an online survey in which parents (N = 156) watched video vignettes of multiple types of research in the classroom and asked them to rate the appropriateness of using active and passive parental consent. The results indicated that parents perceived active consent procedures as more appropriate in most types of research. However, particularly for secondary school children passive consent was rated as comparably appropriate for several types of research (e.g. observation and questionnaire studies). Other aspects of providing consent are displayed in a supplementary online dashboard. We conclude with recommendations for parental consent procedures for social science research in the school context.

摘要

通常，父母或其他法定监护人会被要求积极声明其孩子参与科学研究是知情且自愿的。然而，主动寻求父母同意会导致研究质量较低，而被动父母同意可能会更好。在这项研究中，我们使用了一项在线调查，其中家长（N = 156）在课堂上观看了多种类型研究的视频片段，并要求他们评价使用主动和被动家长同意的适当性。结果表明，家长认为在大多数类型的研究中，主动同意程序更合适。然而，特别是对于中学生来说，被动同意被认为对于几种类型的研究（例如观察和问卷研究）来说是相对合适的。提供同意的其他方面显示在补充在线仪表板中。最后，我们提出了在学校背景下进行社会科学研究的家长同意程序的建议。