Active Parental Consent in School-Based Research

Running head: Active Consent in the School among the Different Demographics 1
Active Consent in the School among the Different Demographics
Student name
Institution of Affiliation

Active Consent in the School among the Different Demographics 2
Active Consent in the School among the Different Demographics
Summary
The authors of this article conducted a public health research Urban schools in the
Midwest Town. The key issues that were to determine the active consent and passive consent
among the various demographic groups within the area (Jansen-van der Weide, Caldwell,
Young, de Vries, Willems, Van’t Hoff, & Offringa, 2015). Active consent is critical when
conducting research. Active consent is explained as the process in which the participant or the
guardian of the participant agrees to take part in the research process (Woolfall, Frith, & Young,
2015). The writers in this research sought the consent of the parents for their children to
participate in research in their schools. The study was to cover various health components in the
school. Some of the elements that were covered in the survey include height, weight, the levels
of blood pressure, the school attendance, the special education needs, disciplinary issues, medical
data of the participants, telephone interviews and achievement records of the students.
The authors used an active consent to allow them to seek reasonable agreement from the
parents to allow their children to participate in the research. There were different demographics
targeted in this case as a way of ensuring that the students play a role in the results that are
generated in the end. Therefore, the authors sought to develop an approach of giving time to the
parents to think and allow the children to take part in this kind of study (Fitzpatrick, Martiniuk,
D’Antoine, Oscar, Carter, & Elliott, 2016). For example, the researchers decided that they will
send a note to the parents and guardians about the upcoming research and the need to allow the
students to take part in the forthcoming investigation. This is a process that is doe to ensure that
all of the participants taking part in the study have consented. A passive consent occurs when the

Active Consent in the School among the Different Demographics 3
authors assume that those who do not respond to the consent letters are considered to have
agreed to participate in the study.
This research was conducted to determine the differences in the consent among the
different demographics in the urban center. Instead of taking a blanket consent in all of the
elements highlighted above, the authors sought approval on the specific units such as weight and
blood pressure (Ji, P., Brian., David, DuBois, Vanessa B., Joseph Day, & Dan C., (2006). Each
parent or guardian was asked to consent about each of this measures of research. From the
results, most of the parents agreed on height and weight. However, there were insignificant
disparities in the contentment of these factors. This is an approach that was chosen by the authors
to ensure that there is a maximum contribution or participation from the targeted groups (Riley,
Anne, Christopher, George, Barbara, Bert, Judith & Phyllis F., 2004).
The study included demographics such as African American, Hispanic, white and all
others. However, did not contain elements such as income, education and living standards. In this
case, it means that the study did not determine the contentment on the levels of their income. The
authors mentioned that the future researches need to allow enough time for the investigation to
be conducted (Harrell, Chyrise, Jennifer Annette & Elaine,2000). The authors in this study gave
an allowance of one month for their responses. This time could be limited by the fact that there is
a need for adequate consideration from the participants and the time of research. The article
contributes to the future knowledge on the responses of the active and passive consents. The
authors recommend that there is a need to use active consent to increase the information
received.
Evaluation Goal(s)

Active Consent in the School among the Different Demographics 4
The goals of this study are to determine the levels of consent among the different
demographics within the town. The authors wanted to determine the degree in which different
groups can give permission to their sons and daughters to take part in the research. There is a
need always to ensure that the participant's consent with any research conducted (Esbensen,
Michelle, Terrance, Ni, 1999). This will help to ensure that the outcome of the research study is
relevant to the results and body of knowledge. For example, in this study, the authors wanted to
determine if there is any form of disparity in the respective demographics within the Midwest
Town. When it comes to active consent, the overall system of conducting research highlights a
complete engagement of the research participants.
Moreover, the authors proposed the idea of providing a wide span of communities in the
area. The idea is to determine if the element of consent vary with the respective populations of
interest. Take, for example; the researchers researched the various communities in the (society
Ewing, Erby, Bollinger, Tetteyfio, Ricks-Santi, & Kaufman, 2015). The writers stated that there
is also the need to include the principals and let the parents understand that there is a research
activity that shall be conducted in a particular period and time for it to increase the success rate
in responses. Remember that the success of the sample participants informs the decisions and the
overall success of the research. What was noted in the study is that the parents are protective of
their children thus active or passive consent would work better in this cases in this kind of
research projects.
The researchers also indicated that when older students are included in the research, then
there is a need to ensure that a follow up is conducted. Persistence is needed as the results
indicate that they do not return their forms as compared to those who are of lower grades in the
school (Kahn, Mastroianni, & Sugarman, 2018). This may cause some statistical differences