Our Signature Consent-Based Development Project Design
The rigorous and equity-informed approach required a commitment to key principles.
There are three principles that carried the Ignace project design from inception to completion, enabling a defensible outcome with all eligible voices empowered to be counted. Creating access through acts of inclusion, with robust document controls was imperative to delivering an exhaustive respondent approach where each voice was valued, invited to participate, and confidentially documented in the ways that were comfortable for them to share their opinion with trust and psychological safety.
Why are the principles of inclusion, access, and documentation so important in determining and confirming consent?
Because it has the power to prove that the right thing was done for all voices invited to the table.
Principles of Consent-Based Development
Inclusion
if the consent-testing process does not include everyone and in the ways they need to interact with the neutral party collecting data, it can be argued that not everyone has the chance to speak up, for themselves, in their own voice. Inclusion supports the principle of autonomy that is so deeply rooted in consent-based decision making. Respecting autonomy and the subjectivity of a person’s opinion leads the researcher to capture the diverse perspectives required of exhaustive approaches to reach residents.
Access
if the consent-testing process does not provide easy, ample, and repeated access for people to take part, it can be argued that not everyone has the opportunity to take part, and provide or decline consent. The principle of access intersects with the principle of inclusion, where access is not only about time and opportunity, but also about how access is made possible given the context of each resident respondent.
Documentation
if the consent-testing process does not have significant document controls, informed by a robust, ethical, and policy-based research methodology, nothing can be proven or defended when questioned about the process. Research teams can document, report on, and defend what conclusion they have drawn with confidence that then extends to the leaders who will eventually make the decision to proceed with the development project, or not.