A debriefing is a careful review of the participant’s experience after s/he has completed the study. It has two purposes. The first purpose is to ensure that ethical standards are upheld. A debriefing allows the researcher to assess any changes in the participant’s psychological or physical state resulting from involvement in the study. If a participant is experiencing psychological or physical distress, the researcher must assist the participant in finding appropriate aid. If the researcher has used deception, the researcher must explain the deception fully and explain why deception was a necessary part of the study.

The second purpose of debriefing is to provide participants with additional information about the study. This information can include details regarding the purpose of the study, the researcher’s hypotheses, and potential applied uses of the results. Some researchers provide participants with information about resources, such as websites or books, which contain additional information about the area of study. The researcher provides the participant with contact information for the researcher and the Human and Animal Research Review Committee, which the participant can use if s/he later has questions or concerns about the study. Some researchers distribute the final results of the study to participants at a later date; others invite interested participants to contact them to inquire about the results.

A debriefing can be completed in an interview or written format. The interview format is most appropriate for studies during which participants interact with researchers one-on-one and studies that include deception and/or present psychological or physical risk to the participant. A written debriefing form is most useful when the research is low-risk and when data collection is carried out in a group setting.

If your study includes deception, and you are concerned that participants will inform prospective participants about the nature of the deception, you can make a request to postpone debriefing participants about deception until the end of the data collection period. However, the problems associated with contamination of data must significantly outweigh the potential problems of delaying a full debriefing.

Helpful Documents
- Debriefing Example (DOC)