If a study technician posts an instruction on a rack to measure water consumption weekly, but the bottles are too small to hold five days of water, what should be done?

• A. Inform the study director immediately to report the problem and verify the posted instructions.
• B. Follow the posted instruction for five-day measurement.
• C. Replace the bottles without notifying anyone.
• D. Adopt the posted instruction as protocol.

Answer: (A)

When you run into a mismatch between posted instructions and the practical setup, the right move is to escalate the issue to the supervisor and verify the instructions before proceeding. This protects data integrity and safety, because you shouldn’t follow or alter procedures based on incomplete or impractical instructions.

Informing the study director immediately to report the problem and verify the posted instructions is best. It brings the discrepancy to someone who can confirm the correct measurement plan, adjust the protocol if needed, and ensure the equipment and procedures align with what’s approved. This keeps the study on a solid, auditable track and prevents data from being collected in a way that isn’t valid or compliant.

Why the other options aren’t appropriate: following the instruction for five-day measurement would produce data that can’t be accurately collected with the available bottles, risking invalid results. Replacing bottles without notifying anyone bypasses the approved protocol and could alter the study’s conditions and data integrity. Adopting the posted instruction as protocol without verification means acting on something unconfirmed, which isn’t acceptable in a controlled study environment.