Researchers may wish to capture how individuals act in everyday situations. In order to not bias study results, researchers may withhold study design details, study purpose, hypotheses, and predictions from the participants. Researchers cannot withhold information or omit information about a study unless the Institutional Review Board (IRB) has reviewed the study protocol and determined that this is the best approach for the study.
Withholding study design information or purpose at the start of the study may be necessary if:
- It might bias responses and affect results.
- Participants may deliberately do whatever it is they think the researcher wants them to do, for goodwill, conformity, or expectation.
- Participants might deliberately act in the opposite direction to mask their knowledge of possible outcomes.
Debriefing study participants typically occurs at the conclusion of the study activity or at the end of the study. During a debriefing, study participants are provided the opportunity to discuss any details of the research study and are given the choice to remove their data from the analysis.
Suggestions For Debriefing a Participant:
- Provide the study title and the name(s) of the principal investigator(s).
- Explain the following:
- Study’s true goals and purpose,
- Why the study was developed,
- Any predictions/hypotheses of the study,
- What the researcher(s) expect(s) to learn from the study
- The research questions being studied, etc.
- Reveal any deception employed in the study and the reasons why
- Provide withdrawal procedures and information on the opportunity to withdraw
- If available, provide the participant with the results of the study thus far
- Offer resources for research participants, including:
- Researchers’ contact information,
- TC IRB’s contact information (IRB@tc.edu; 212-678-4105),
- A summary of “participants rights” (available at the end of the consent form),
- Additional useful resources and/or support services, as needed (e.g., relevant crisis hotlines, mental health facilities, and outreach services),
- Thank the individual for participating in the study.
Debriefing Script Example:
We cannot always tell people about the study purpose or hypothesis because it might affect our results.
- Do you understand why sometimes researchers cannot reveal the full purpose of the study at the onset?
- Do you have any concerns or questions about why we may have withheld some information about the study?
In today’s study, you [indicate study tasks].
- Do you recall the purpose of this study or study activity?
- Do you know what we might have predicted about this study activity?
- Do you have a guess about the hypotheses for this study?
- Do you think if you fully knew the study purpose at that time, it might have impacted your responses?
- Do you have any questions?
Now I would like to tell you the purpose of this study.
We designed this study because we were curious about….
- [In an experimental design] We had two conditions…(1) an experiment, and (2) control. You were randomly assigned into one of these two conditions…Do you think you can recall which condition you were in (experiment or control)?
- [Tailor to your study] We are not really interested in your performance on this task…we were not looking for top scores, we only wanted to better understand how you might respond if you were to do this task in a typical setting.
- We are most interested in…
- We think people like you might respond this way….
- We predict…
- We have found so far that individuals tend to…
- Is this what you thought we were interested in? When did you think this?
- What did you think the study was about?
- Was any part of the study activity confusing?
- Please let us know if there is anything you think would make the study more realistic, how we might improve the study design, or debriefing experience.
You may wonder what difference it makes to tell someone else about the true nature of the study [explain the reasoning]. We ask that you not tell others outright what we are studying as it might affect their behavior.
- Explain the impact of telling others about the study (e.g., could bias responses, could skew data, may not be genuine participant responses, etc.)
- Do you understand now why we did not tell you the real purpose of the study at the start?
- Do you have any questions?
We value your time, and we wish for others who participate to have a genuine experience with the study activity. The success of this study requires that we withhold some study information (study design and predictions).
- We ask that you not share what you experienced in this study with others. Why? Because if you talk to others about the purpose of the study it might impact our study results as their responses would not be spontaneous and natural.
If anybody asks you about the study, just tell them what we told you in the beginning of your participation or refer them to this recruitment script. You can also say that you are not at liberty to discuss the nature of the study.
- Will you try not to say anything about the study to others?
- Do you feel that you had all debriefing parts explained to you, and that you had the opportunity to ask questions about the true study purpose that took place?
- Do you have any questions? Comments? Suggestions?
Now that you have learned the true and full purpose of the current study and know about the actual study activities that took place as part of this study, do you wish to have your data to be included in this research project? You can choose to withdraw from this study at any time.
[Include a data release section, for individuals to release their data for analysis.]
Debriefing a participant means the researcher provides information about the study and allows that individual to choose whether to release their data for analysis. The study participant can choose to withdraw from the study at any time, without penalty. A “Debriefing Script” is required if the research involves deception of the participants. For more information on coercion and risk to participants, please review our guide to Understanding Potential Risks for Human Subjects Research.