What is the difference between assent and consent

On the face of it, consent means knowledgeable, freely-given, and informed agreement. Assent means agreement with something, request, or to an activity while consent means giving permission for something to happen, participate in an activity, or voluntarily agree to a proposal or request.

Consent is only obtained from people who are of legal age while assent is obtained from people under the legal age of consenting. If a project requiring permission is involving adults, then consent is required, but if it involves children, then assent should also be obtained while a grown-up representing the minors will give the consent on their behalf.

While conducting research using human subjects consent refers to a legally entered agreement between the researcher and participant while assent refers to a willingness by the subject to take part in the study. In the legal field, a consent is a legally binding agreement while an assent is not legally binding. Before any activity involving more than one person can happen, there has to be a mutual agreement between the participants. The difference arises when the subjects involved are either above or below the legal age of issuing a consent.

This difference brings out the whole variance between a consent and assent since a consent is to adults or legally qualified people while assent is for underage individuals or people who are not qualified to give consent. Difference Between Assent and Consent. Difference Between Similar Terms and Objects. MLA 8 Brown, Sarah. Name required. Email required. Assent also refers to an expression of agreement or approval.

In some contexts, it refers to an official agreement or sanction. The difference between consent and assent mainly exists in the field of research. In the context of research , it refers to the willingness of the participants to participate in the research. Assent also refers to the agreement of those who cannot give their consent to participate in the study.

As mentioned above, consent is a compulsory element in a research study. When the participants are unable to give legal consent due to their age limit, you have to approach their parents or guardians. Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research.

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Social Media Events. Cancer Currents Blog. Contributing to Cancer Research. Consent also usually has the connotation of a different amount of power between the person granting permission higher power and the person receiving permission lower power.

When to use assent : Assent can act as either a verb or a noun that refers to agreement or compliance. It usually refers to agreeing with an opinion.

Assent starts with an a , just like agreement. Assent usually has a stronger association with agreement than consent. The fact that assent and enthusiastic both start with vowels can also help you remember that assent can connote enthusiasm. Opinion also starts with a vowel.