Using Muppets to Demystify Informed Consent
June 6, 2022
Informed consent is a critical part of the research process that requires a certain level of trust between researchers and participants. How can this process, which requires that potential participants understand the study’s goals, how data will be used, and the potential risks and benefits of participation, be made accessible so that they are comfortable?
In this case study, researchers from Sesame Workshop and NYU’s Global TIES for Children share some of the challenges that they addressed in the informed consent process with potential participants for Ahlan Simsim, a partnership between Sesame Workshop and the International Rescue Committee that seeks to deliver early childhood care and education to millions of children affected by conflict in Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq, and Syria. In addition to the formative research to support the development of content and programming, NYU— in collaboration with the IRC and Sesame Workshop research teams —will also evaluate the impact of Ahlan Simsim programming on children’s learning and development, as well as on parents’ mental health and well-being.
During the recruitment planning phase of the impact studies, researchers identified several challenges around gathering informed consent, including low literacy levels and the significance of social pressure that prevented some families from fully reading the consent form because they did not want to offend the researchers. This brief details the process of addressing the challenge, producing and testing videos, and ensuring they were informative and engaging enough to be accessible to participants.
Download the report in Arabic.
The video has been adpated for use with participants who speak Arabic, Sotho, Zulu, Xhosa, Bangla, Rohingya, English, and Spanish.
