Confusing consent forms and scripts

Mismatch between the study and the style of the consent process

If you are interviewing CEO's or experts about your topic, it would be appropriate to be formal. However, in many settings, it is more appropriate to design an informal, conversational presentation of the required consent information.

Incomplete description of research procedures

Remember, the reviewer needs to put him or herself in the shoes of the subject and cannot do so if there isn’t enough detail in the protocol. You may wish to think about your research implementation as a series of small steps and create a time line to implement those steps. This process could make it easier for you to describe your research and may be helpful for you when you are in the field.

Inconsistency

Examples:

• The research description says that the interview will take 15 minutes, yet the script for the consent process states that the interview will take 30 minutes.
  
  
• The protocol says that one of the study populations will be children and the survey asks subjects to provide their marital status: married, single, or divorced.

Missing information

Review the checklist of possible appendices at the end of the Application for Protocol Approval and be sure you have included the necessary documents.

Even if you plan to fine tune your questionnaires or interview questions in the field, the IRB needs to have preliminary surveys and/or interview questions. As noted in the application form, if you plan to conduct open-ended interviews, you need to include sample questions in the protocol application.