I received this call for people with chronic illnesses to take part in a survey for a study being done by Purdue University. The study is to learn more about how we use online sites such as blogs and forums to help us cope with our health issues. I contacted Justin Gold, the research assistant working with this survey and he has provided his email for others with questions below. Please read the following about this survey.

My name is Justin Guild and I’m a graduate research assistant currently working with Dr. Jeong-Nam Kim at Purdue University on a health communication study.

Specifically, our research explores how information sharing behavior through online communities (such as blogs) influences coping strategies among people with chronic conditions including cancer, diabetes, depression, etc.

I’m contacting you to seek permission to place a link to our online web survey on your blog to invite readers and other visitors to participate. The survey is purely academic in nature and takes no longer than 5-7 minutes to complete.

The survey is available online.

In the survey, we use the term “blog” to refer to any online activity where you might read or share information in communities such as personal web logs, internet forums, and discussion boards.

The findings of this study could lead to better management capacities of chronic diseases as well as an increase in funding for research related to online communities.

If you have any questions, or would like additional information, please don’t hesitate to contact me at jguild@purdue.edu.