ABSTRACT
This chapter describes the design of the informed consent study and the major findings. It focuses on an "internal analysis" of two of the several experimental variables, in order to see whether such an analysis leads to conclusions different from those based on the experimental treatments themselves. The experiment was on a large scale, using as its subjects a probability sample of the adult noninstitutionalized population of the continental United States. Two sorts of supplementary measures were built into the research design. First, respondents' perceptions of what the interviewer had said were obtained. And second, several mechanisms, or intervening variables, were conceptualized by which the experimental variables could affect response, and measures of these were incorporated into the design as well. The other half were given a fuller description of the interview, which contained a large number of questions generally considered sensitive: e.g., questions about drinking, marijuana use, sex, and income.
