What considerations guide the use of incentives in TCPS 2 research?

• A. Incentives should be large to compensate time.
• B. Incentives should be avoided to not influence participants.
• C. Incentives should not be coercive or unduly influential; be appropriate to context and participants.
• D. Incentives should always be the primary reason to participate.

Answer: (C)

Incentives in TCPS 2 research are about balancing fair compensation with protection of voluntary consent. The guiding idea is to avoid anything that could coerce or unduly influence someone’s decision to participate, while still recognizing participants’ time and any expenses.

The best approach is to keep incentives non-coercive and not unduly influential, and to tailor them to the context and to who is being asked to participate. This means offering something that acknowledges time and inconvenience but does not push people toward participating because of the payment. For example, providing modest reimbursement for travel or time can be appropriate, especially when it aligns with the study’s risk level and the participants’ circumstances. In contrast, a very large incentive could pressure someone to take part despite concerns about risks, which compromises voluntary consent. Conversely, offering no incentive at all might be unfair in some contexts, but the key is keeping incentives within bounds and justified by the study’s specifics. Finally, incentives should not be the primary reason someone joins the study.

So the correct approach emphasizes suitability, fairness, and safeguarding informed consent by avoiding coercive or unduly influential incentives.