Informed Consent Form for Dissertation.

DynamiteC101

I'm a final year undergraduate student, currently writing my dissertation. It's 10,000 words, and my topic is based on a social issue in another country. I have decided to undertake primary research as part of my study, and I am therefore carrying out qualitative interviews with a number of participants. As my topic is based on another country, it means that participants are based in this other country. I have had no problem contacting participants who are interested. It took a lot of effort but I have managed to get a load of people who are interested. Unfortunately there is one major obstacle: The informed consent form.

The informed consent form requires a circling of boxes, a signature, and a witness signature. If I was interviewing people in Ireland, this would be no problem. However, the fact that the informed consent form has to be e-mailed back to me from another country means that this is proving to be an obstacle. There are a lot of participants interested in the study, but whenever I mention the consent form, it seems to dissuade them, and they don't reply. I would be inclined to believe it is due to the effort of having to get a witness signature. I have went to quite serious lengths to get participants - countless e-mails and posts on facebook groups. So I am feeling quite disheartened now, knowing that a simple technical glitch is preventing me from getting research participants.

Anyone with previous experience writing a dissertation or thesis - Is it imperative that the informed consent form is signed, along with a witness signature? I have e-mailed my supervisor about this, but she hasn't replied. My dissertation is due in 3 weeks time, so I really need to get some clarity on this. Cheers.

neil_18_

I did my dissertation last year and interviewed two people from a really big company and i didn't use any sort of consent form. Are you sure it's completely necessary ?

H2G2

Check with your supervisor re ethical approval and if you really need this. Based on my experience, I would very much doubt that you would require the DCU Research Ethics Committee approval for this, unless its sensitive personal information you are gathering.