Debriefing Form

DEBRIEFING FORM ELEMENTS

  • Must happen in a way that all participants are aware of the full true purpose of the study and none left undebriefed. This most commonly means that participants are debriefed after the testing session ends but before they leave the experimenter’s presence.
  • Participants must then be told the purpose of the study, and also be presented with a form that explains this. The participant then reads and signs the debriefing form to say they have read it. However, there is a separate part of the form saying if they ARE or ARE NOT willing to have their data included. If the do not respond to that second question, or respond NO, then their data is NOT included. There cannot be “passive re-consent;” if researchers do not get a definite response, that they cannot use that participant’s data.
  • The form should not only include an explanation of the deception in the current study, but also a brief explanation about why deception must take place in social and behavioral research more generally.

Debriefing Form Sample Script for Studies