survey For School Age

[Amira Neeva, BSN]

I am a newbie in nursing research but I know of course that with the experience that I had, I would have no excuse of not making a good research. I just have a concern. Do you always need to have a signed consent from parents or guardian before you can conduct a survey of minors such as school age children.

our topic is about the grader's perception about their physical changes and their health and gender-related behaviors.

My concern is, in my area, parents tend to just don't mind consent and forget to sign it. So, if our group stipulate that a consent must be required, we will have hard time looking for a subject that will diligently remember to have his/her parents sign..

[ToughingItOut]

Greetings,

Consenting minors always adds another layer of complication. Will there be only one survey or several? Do you have the support of the school (hopefully yes)?

If so, I would recommend "piggybacking" your consent on to another school document that requires signature. For example, a copy of your consent could be stapled to every child's report card or permission for a field trip or movie.

I also seem to remember in my grade school days a bit of bribery - each child received a piece of gum/candy/+5 points on to a test of homework assignment when a paper was returned (even if the parents check "No" to giving permission to participate in the survey).

What do you think?