Use the pre-survey as a consent form

The consent question

The global pre-survey comes after the participant sets a name and before all other parts. Thus it is the correct place for a consent form.

To add the question:

• Click the name of the experiment at the top of the builder. The settings open.
• Open Global Surveys.
• Under Global Pre-Survey, select Add Question.
• Select Single Choice and write the question.
• Give it the name consent. The rule in the next step uses this name.
• Tick Required. The participant cannot skip the question.
• Write the choices one on each line: I agree and I do not agree.

Put the information sheet in the question, or on a page before it. Open editor & preview adds pages.

A rule that ends the study

Caution: the value must be the same as the choice, letter for letter.

Under the questions, select Pre-Survey Completion Conditions → Add Condition. Then set the rule:

• If field: consent, the name of the question.
• Operator: ≠.
• Value: I agree. The session ends for all answers that are not agreement.
• Message: the text on the closing screen.
• Redirect URL: optional, for example the return link of a recruitment platform.

For a rule that you add here, Record as is already Declined consent. Click Deploy to save.

A rule can only end the session. To send participants on different paths, use chamberline assignment.

What participants see

Carrier checks the rules each time the participant goes to the next page, not only at submit. Thus a refusal on the consent page ends the study on that page. The next page does not show. The participant sees Study Ended with your message.

Carrier saves the answers before the study ends. A participant who agrees continues through the survey and into the first chamber. A participant who declines does not enter a chamber or the matching pool. Thus they do not take a seat in a group.

On the dashboard and in the export

The outcome of the participant is Declined Consent. This outcome is different from Screened Out. The dashboard counts these participants under Terminated before completing.

In the Participants sheet of the export, the row has:

• outcome: Declined Consent.
• terminationReason: consent_declined.
• No chamber line.

The Responses sheet has the answer of the participant. Thus the data shows that the participant saw the form and refused.

The global post-survey and the chamber surveys have no rules of this type. For a check in a chamber, use the completion conditions of a survey segment.