Parents’ perceptions of parental consent procedures for social science research in the school context

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.