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Dear friends, There have been some concerns expressed to me about my research. I would like to put these to rest. First of all, I will restate the purpose of my research. The Topic: "A Comparison of the Efficacy of Online and Face-to-face Medical Support Groups to Satisfy the Needs of Their Membership." Research question #1: is there a significant difference in the type of support provided by online and face-to-face medical support groups? Research question #2: is there a significant difference in the level of support provided by online and face-to-face medical support groups? Research question #3: is there a significant difference in the personalities of online and face-to-face medical support group members? Methodology. Data collection. For the list serve and the bulletin board, Content analysis will be used to categorize the postings (messages) as empathetic, non-empathetic, factual, contextual, and other. No detailed analysis will be made nor will the subject nor the sender be retained. Names mentioned in the body of the message will be deleted. For the chat room. I will capture the conversation in a log format. The same analysis will be applied to the information exchanged. Again, the specific content will not be analyzed and all names will be deleted. A demographic survey and a satisfaction questionnaire will be administered to those who wish to participate. No addresses will be taken, and your name will be replaced by an ID number. The only statistics generated will be for the entire group, not for individuals. The same methodology will be applied to the face-to-face group (the Johns Hopkins young onset support group.) I will be collecting data on the face-to-face group during their next two meetings. For the list server and the bulletin board group, I will just use messages from the Digests. For the chat room, I will just retain a log every time I'm on. I will notify the participants that I'm doing so. Bottom-line. I will not be making any changes to the chat room etc.. As a byproduct of my research I will send a report to those in charge which will contain recommendations on how to improve the effectiveness of information exchange within the group. It will be up to those in charge to make any changes. Individual statistics will not be used. All data will apply to the group as a whole. There will be absolutely no way to link the data to individuals.. If anyone does not want their messages used, just e-mail me with your name and messages containing your name will not be used. Thank you for your participation. Bruce