Although I'm not sure what the official guidelines are here (I'm not in my
office at the moment), I'm fairly sure that the IRB would have ethical
problems with passive consent. The federal guidelines may not mention
passive consent, but they do state that individuals who participate in
research (or guardians in the case of minors) must provide informed consent
that is voluntary, informed, and rational.
By definition, passive consent does not meet those criteria. Who is to know
that the parent actually received and read the letter-- and that hearing
nothing from them means that they consent? Passive consent does not respect
the parents' right to autonomy as it is unknown whether nonresponse truly
represents consent that is informed. I have references on this (from
memory, try Joan Seiberm or Patricia Keith-Speigel; I've also written
a little on this) in my office if you're interested.
Tara Kuther, Ph.D
Western Connecticut State University
