* Original Area: NETMAIL
* Original From: Axel Schless (2:2490/2001.12)
* Original To  : David Andrews (1:282/1045)
Hello,
as a German medical student I am doing a research on what computer-nets can
offer to diabetic people.
A very important point at the beginning: this is non-commercial, I am trying
to collect scientific data for the university clinic for children and
adolescents in Erlangen/Germany; this is for my thesis and I would be very
glad for anyone to support my investigation, meaning answering and sending
back my questionaire via email. Thank you very much in advance for your help.
You will help, won't you? :-)
In order to gain a better understanding of what newsgroups/echos/forums
really do offer, I would learn a little bit more about those who contribute
to and use them. I lurked for some time in your echo and got your address
from there.
So, finally, here come my indiscreet questions :-):
(really meaning: if one or two are really too indiscreet, please do answer
the rest and leave the offending ones out, ok?)
1) Are you diabetic?
   What type (1 or 2)?
   Since when?
   Could you describe your treatment (insulin or else)?
   Do you suffer from secondary complications?
   What kind of complications?
1b)Or so you visit the forum on behalf of a child/relative/spouse/friend/
   PATIENT?
   Could you please give the deetails as under 1?
2) Are you male or female?
3) What is your age?
4) Where do you live? What is your nationality?
4b)What is your race?
5) Since when have you been visiting the forum?
   Do you read regularly or seldom?
   Do you contribute regularly or seldom?
   Are you a "lurker"?
5a)How often do you post in this forum?
5b)How often do you receive answers to your postings
   -publicly?
   -private email?
6) Do you engage in private email-conversation with other forum members?
   Often, sometimes, seldom or never?
7) How much time do you invest in your visits to this forum?
8) Resuming the lurker-thread :-) How long did you just watch the postings
   before ever writing one yourself?
9) Could you try to sum up, why you visit this forum, in what ways it is
   helpful to you?
9a)Do you think it is easier to talk to people about diabetes via computer
   compared to face-to-face conversation (sorry, this IS indiscreet)?
9b)Do you ask questions here that you would be afraid to or simply cannot
   ask your doctor?
10)Could you compare your participation in this forum to other "media" you
   use, e.g. television, books, journals, self-help-group (!!), your doctor?
11)Would you recommend this forum to other diabetics?
   What would be your best arguments?
   What are the disadvantages?
12)Do you make use of other diabetes-resources in computer-nets?
   Would you please give details?
   (Gopher, WWW, Usenet, Compuserve, AOL, mailboxes, FIDO, non-English-
   ressources etc.)
12a)Do you take part in other diabetes-related newsgroups/echos/forums...?
    Could you name and compare them?
13)Do you know whether your doctor makes use of diabetes-ressources in the
   nets?
   Do you think he does?
Thank you very much for your help. I will sum up the results of my survey and
post them here.
You might want to look at some WWW-pages (as usual under construction:):
http://www.franken.de/users/daneel/C.Renner/
http://www.well.com/user/cjrenner/
http://www.uni-erlangen.de/
Axel Schless
cand.med.
a.schless@stolte.franken.de
University hospital for children and adolescents, Erlangen, Germany
Loeschgestr. 15, D-91054 Erlangen
Tel.:+9131-853118    Fax:+9131-853113
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