Defining Research: The Effect of Linguistic Choices on the Intentions to Participate in Clinical Research

In this prospective cohort study, 204 adults were invited to join an online survey to assess the likelihood of their participation in clinical research, depending on how the term "clinical research" was defined. Both short and extended definitions were used; the five short definitions were: clinical trial, clinical study, health-related research study, community participatory study, and quality improvement study. The likelihood of participation in clinical research was the lowest when "clinical trial" was the definition provided and the highest when "health-related research study" was the definition provided. However, when only an extended definition was provided, those differences were not observed. The authors suggest that a linguistic change from "trial" to "study" could improve a prospective participant's attitude toward clinical research and improve recruitment rates.

Strekalova YA. Defining research: The effect of linguistic choices on the intentions to participate in clinical research. Clinical Nursing Research 2017;Jun 1:1054773817713179.