Abstract: | Discusses the conscientious researcher's objection to the special emphasis placed on informed consent and proposes an alternative rationale for consent. If the special emphasis on informed consent derives from a distrust of researchers, then the underlying relationship between professionals and the community at large has broken down. However, since research, by definition, involves something that the expert does not yet understand, there is no reason to trust the judgment of the expert over that of the layperson. Therefore, Ss must be able to make a decision of whether or not to participate that is based on as much information as the researcher can provide. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved) |