My project involves recruiting participants from an organization. How do I go about making contact with that organization to obtain their consent?
It is ethically permissible for researchers to contact an organization informally (prior to ethics approval being granted) and after informing an appropriately authorized individual about the project, ask for an expression of interest as to whether they would be willing to have members of their organization recruited and/or the study conducted at their premises. Should they agree in principle to this involvement, the researcher may at this time request a letter from the organization (on letter head) expressing their interest in being formally approached, which letter may later be included in the ethics application. Alternatively, researchers may simply include an organizational Plain Language Statement (PLS) and Consent form in their application, which may then be forwarded to the organization after ethics approval has been granted.
