title: How informed is online informed consent?
abstract: We examined participants' reading and recall of informed consent documents presented via paper or computer. Within each presentation medium, we presented the document as a continuous or paginated document to simulate common computer and paper presentation formats. Participants took slightly longer to read paginated and computer informed consent documents and recalled slightly more information from the paginated documents. We concluded that obtaining informed consent online is not substantially different than obtaining it via paper presentation. We also provide suggestions for improving informed consent--in both face-to-face and online experiments.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, P217 Biological Sciences Bldg., University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada T6G 2E9. varn@ualberta.ca
authors.forename: Connie K
authors.initials: CK
authors.lastname: Varnhagen
authors.forename: Matthew
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gushta
authors.forename: Jason
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Daniels
authors.forename: Tara C
authors.initials: TC
authors.lastname: Peters
authors.forename: Neil
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Parmar
authors.forename: Danielle
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Law
authors.forename: Rachel
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Hirsch
authors.forename: Bonnie Sadler
authors.initials: BS
authors.lastname: Takach
authors.forename: Tom
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Johnson
mesh_terms: D000704:Analysis of Variance; D035841:Behavioral Research / Q000941:ethics* / Q000592:standards*; D003142:Communication; D032882:Comprehension; D032962:Consent Forms / Q000592:standards*; D006801:Humans; D007258:Informed Consent; D020407:Internet; D011939:Mental Recall; D009862:Online Systems; D010209:Paper; D011932:Reading; D035842:Research Subjects; D013334:Students; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014495:Universities