There has been quite a lot of viewing of this item so I thought it might be useful to put up an illustration of what I mean by public involvement in research. Here’s a possible situation to think about. It isn’t an actual study but it parallels some of the problems that can arise:

Supposing a research team looking at stress management approaches a small workforce, 10-12 people max, and says they want to teach stress management techniques to everyone. Then they want to come in regularly over the next few months to give them questionnaires and interview them about how that’s working. All but one person thinks it’s a good idea and wants in but one person would rather not take part.

Here are the questions:

1. What thoughts do you think it might bring up for the person who doesn’t want to take part?

2. What can the research team do to make it easy for the person to opt out?

3. What else would you like to say about this situation?