The participant debriefing process must be explained in your submission to the IRB. Your submission should indicate who will debrief the participants. The IRB expects this person to be a member of the research team with knowledge of the research and the deception. During the design of a research project, it may be useful for researchers to include a report of the study for participants at the end of the project. The debriefing process is a prerequisite for studies that use deception (#1 below), but could also be used as an educational tool (#2 below). The following are: a) guidelines for preparing a submission to the Kuali Protocol that involves deliberation and/or requires a debriefing process, and b) specific issues that should be addressed in the debriefing form. The IRB has provided a reporting template for deception research that researchers can use. Please note that the UMass Department of Psychology may have its own guidelines and specifications for debriefing forms used by researchers in the department. More information about the specific guidelines of the Department of Psychology can be found on their website. Reporting is an essential part of the consent process and mandatory if the research study involves deception. The debriefing provides participants with a full explanation of the hypothesis being tested, the procedures used to deceive participants, and the reasons why it was necessary to deceive them. It should also contain other general information relevant to the study. Now that you know the true purpose of our study and are fully informed, you can decide that you don`t want your data to be used in this research.
If you would like your data to be deleted from the study and permanently deleted, please tick the box below. Please note that although the purpose of this study has changed from the originally stated purpose, everything else on the informed consent form is correct. This includes how we treat your data confidentially. Debriefing of participants at the end of a study is mandatory in case of deception and strongly recommended in all other cases. Below is a sample debriefing form for a study with deception (download here). You can also download a debriefing template for standard studies. After interviewing participants immediately after the study ends, the IRB expects participants to receive a debriefing statement to take with them. For online studies, the debriefing process should take place once the participant has completed the research activity. As an additional measure, it may be necessary to send an email to all participants at the end of the study to ensure that all participants (those who graduated and those who stopped halfway) receive a debriefing form. The record must be reviewed and approved by the IRB. Researchers may find that the use of deception or incomplete disclosure is a necessary tool for their study.
However, the use of such techniques raises specific issues that the IRB will examine closely. Deception occurs when participants intentionally receive false information about an aspect of the research. Incomplete disclosure occurs when participants do not receive information about the actual purpose or nature of the research. Earlier in our consent form, we informed you that the purpose of the study was [insert short sentence on the stated initial purpose of the study]. In reality, our study is about [insert statements that i) describe what the true purpose of the study is, ii) the actual fraudulent activity (this includes fake articles or search stimuli that were used), and iii) the results/results you are looking for]. Reporting is the counterpart to the informed consent phase that occurs when participants are recruited for research, including communication research, and is a central element of consent in study designs where human participants are deceived. Debriefing is the act of informing participants of the intentions of the study in which they have just participated; During this process, researchers uncover all the deceptions and explain why the deception was necessary. Debriefing usually takes place at the end of participants` participation in the studies. The purpose of this post is to further explain the debriefing of research participants. First, the debriefing process and the functions of the debriefing are described.
Next, the input explains how debriefing works in different contextual search situations, such as when children are participants or after. Finally, the IRB suggests that the report should also be used as an educational tool, even if the study is not deceptive. Participants should be provided with a simple, clear and informative explanation of the reasons for the study design and the methods used. It should also ask and answer participants` questions. The BRI provided a generic template for reporting forms that researchers can use as an educational tool, and source documents for these guidelines were provided by the University of Connecticut IRB. The IRB UMass would like to thank you for this support. An auditor who proposes to use deception or incomplete disclosure should justify its use in its IRB protocol template. Studies that use deception should not be subject to exempt review, but depending on the nature of the deception, the study will be reviewed as part of the expedited review process or the board review process. When preparing your submission to the IRB Protocol, please indicate: “I do not consent to the use of my study data.” Please do not share the research and/or hypotheses with people who may participate in this study in the future, as this may affect the results of the study.
Thank you for participating in our study! Your participation is greatly appreciated. Unfortunately, in order to properly test our hypothesis, we were not able to provide you with all these details before your participation. This ensures that your reactions in this study were spontaneous and not influenced by prior knowledge of the purpose of the study. [Include a statement repeating any fabricated research activity or stimuli to ensure that participants do not leave the study believing false material.] If we had communicated to you the actual objectives of our study, your ability to [insert study activity] could have been affected. We regret the deception, but hope you understand why. Thank you again for your participation in this study! If applicable: Whether or not you consent to your data being used for this study, you will always receive [insert study compensation] for your participation. If you would like to receive a copy of the final report of this study (or a summary of the results) once completed, please contact us.