Informed consent means the person being asked questions has been fully informed about your evidence gathering.
- Have you told the person all about the reason you want to ask them questions?
- Did you let them know who or what group is paying for the exercise?
- Are you aware of how exactly their answers will be utilised?
- Have you told them this?
- Is your concern that the people you ask questions of, may be negatively impacted by them, reasonable?
If you are worried about this at all, you must be open with the person involved about any potentially adverse reactions to them from being involved. For example, if you are planning to ask, ‘Were you lonely before joining the peer group?’ it would be reasonable to assume this may bring up feelings of sadness for the person being asked. You need to let them know, some questions may evoke emotional reactions. You should also consider if you are able to reframe the questions you are asking, to minimise such a risk. Do you know exactly who will have access to their answers? Will information be identifiable to the individual respondent? Before you ask the first person a question, you need to be precisely aware of how you will utilise the answers, what format they will take and who will see them.
You need to have high quality accessible information sheets, together with straightforward and user-friendly consent signing sheets. This will ensure you not only deliver the information needed to provide informed consent, but also that you have a record of having done so. Remember, the primary purpose of informed consent is that the responder is able to make an informed decision about whether they want to answer your questions. It is also a good strategy to have additional information and processes in place, in the event the person being asked questions becomes distressed, in any way, during the process. It is also a good idea to ensure that the person asking the questions has access to support mechanisms if they encounter such distress in a respondent. This is important because it would be difficult for both parties if questions cause any distress.
