Windows, Timing and the Clock

Part of Research Assistant (ASSIST) Training: Following an Instruction Exactly.

About 2 minutes. Free, in your language, no account needed.

A visit window is a range, not a target

Protocols usually say a visit happens on day 28, plus or minus three days. That means any day from 25 to 31 is correct and compliant. Day 32 is a protocol deviation, even by one day.

Knowing the window lets you help. If a participant cannot make the planned day, there may be room to move inside the window, which avoids a deviation entirely. If there is not, that is worth flagging early rather than discovering on the day.

Times within a visit matter too

Within a single appointment there are often sequences with their own timing: take the sample before the dose, then again at one hour and four hours. Wait five minutes before measuring. Process the sample within thirty minutes of collection.

Write down the actual clock time you did each thing, as you do it. Not the time you were supposed to do it. If the protocol says one hour and you drew at one hour and seven minutes, record one hour and seven minutes.

The clock starts when the protocol says

A common error is starting the clock at the wrong event. If the protocol says thirty minutes from collection, the clock starts when the sample is taken, not when you get back to the bench, and not when the centrifuge is free.

If you are not certain what starts the clock, ask. It is a specific, answerable question.

Write the time at the time

Times reconstructed later are guesses, and they are usually wrong in the direction that makes things look compliant. Someone reading the record has no way to know which times were noted and which were remembered.

Carry something to write on. Note the time when the thing happens. It takes seconds and it is the difference between a record and a recollection.