I am a doctoral student at Texas Tech University and I am studying communication issues related to diabetes care. Last March I conducted
a pilot study involved examining texts on the Tu Diabetes online support discussion board in order to
better understand how identity is constructed through narrative texts online.
I would like to extend this study in order to collect more information over a three-month period this summer (June-August, 2010). I will read the posts
on these forums between these dates and make notes. I
will not participate in the conversations themselves.
The final product of the study will be a chapter in my dissertation. I will not use any member names and I will seek permission from individuals to publish anything that is directly quoted.
Participating in this research is strictly on a volunteer basis. Participants must be 18 years or older. If you do not want to
participate, please reply to this
message and I will eliminate any of your messages from my study.
Thanks so much,
Lora Arduser
PhD student, Texas Tech University, Technical Communication and Rhetoric
Hey Lora. Can you perhaps explain a little more the study and how you would be using posts giving an example? How would it benefit me to participate to help another diabetic I guess is what I am trying to figure out.
Sure Pauly. I’ve attached a portion of the analysis I did for my pilot study. The focus of the dissertation is a little different. I’m interested in looking at how people construct what I call agency (some call it empowerment) in collaborative spaces. I’m also going to be working with people that participate in face-to-face group educational sessions. The forums on Tu Diabetes will let me look at a similar thing in a technological environment. More importantly for me, it is a space that doesn’t include anyone from the medical field - people are talking to peers.
Hope this helps a little and sorry for the vagueness of the initial post. One of the things I’m required to do is get my study approved by my university’s Institutional Review Board. This board is in place to make sure that research involving people (as opposed to just looking a records or texts of some kind) is conducted ethically. They have to approve any document I send out for the recruitment of participants. I should also let you know that I contacted Manny before my pilot study as well as for this research prior to posting today.
Lora,
Best of luck to you, Hope that you find all of the materials here beneficial to the success of your dissertation. I’m not a frequent poster, but I do plan on being more involved as I search for answers to all of these questions I have about diabetes.
Thanks Elaine!
I selected Tu Diabetes for two reasons. First, it is a very active community. Second, the community is not directly related to the medical community. Some of the discussion forums I considered were associated with the American Diabetes Association and the Joslin Center, but I wanted my research to include conversations people with diabetes were having with their peers as well as with doctors and diabetes educators.
Your dissertation research using TuDiabetes sounds like fun as well as being informative. I look forward to at least one follow-up from you. Good luck!
Lora…you are welcome to use any of my postings. It’s too bad you cannot use younger than 18 postings. Kids and teens deal with trying to control their BG through diet and medication but are not usually empowered by family and medical providers for their own course of treatment. I developed T1 as an adult and cannot imagine my reaction to loosing any facet of control for my treatment.
Tom,
My understanding is that the IRBs are still grappling with how to handle consent with online communities. Some universities consider the texts public and don’t require any consent. My university takes a more conservative approach, but they are still working on this particular research area.
I’d love to hear any thoughts you might have on the matter…the Board seems very open to feedback on their processes!
