Templates: Consent Forms
Consent form guidelines
(This accompanies Core Document, Sections E, F, and G)
The informed consent process requires that prospective participants, and/or their legal guardians/advocates, are provided with sufficient information about a research project to make a knowledgeable decision about whether or not they want to take part. Consent forms can be provided together with the information sheet but consent should not be sought until after the participant has read and had time to consider all the information provided.
This template is designed primarily for those doing qualitative interviews with adults from non-vulnerable populations and dealing with non-sensitive topics, or children where parental consent is also being sought. The points listed on the template below are for illustration only. You may alter the wording to suit your project as you see fit. For example, the form would be different in the case of focus groups or quantitative research. If conducting research with vulnerable populations and/or sensitive topics, please see template 4 and 5 for further details.
A consent form is not simply about a person giving you permission to involve them in research/evaluation, it is an agreement between the researcher/evaluator and the participant outlining the roles and responsibilities they are taking towards one another throughout the whole of the process. The researcher/evaluator should retain one copy of the consent form signed by both themselves and the participant. The participant should also be given a copy of the consent form as a record of what they have signed up to.