Fw: 2. focus of dissertation

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More information about the dissertation research request.

Grabner

2. focus of dissertation

> 2. Focus of my dissertation

> My dissertation is focusing on the support process within Internet support

> groups. I am looking at how the way individuals request support and how

> members of the Internet support group respond to them. Purpose

> The purpose of my study is to look at how people ask for support from

> others and the type and quality of support they receive. This research

> focuses on trying to establish the link between ways we ask for support

> influence the type of support we receive. The evaluations of support are

> based on previous categories of what are better and worse ways of support.

> Of course, since the study is on Internet support groups, the results will

> be different than support given face-to-face. In addition, the type of

> illness people deal with also affect the support process.

>

> Basically, I am observing groups for 3 weeks. I will not interact with the

> group in the discussion group so that members can focus on their goals for

> the group (to talk, share, and ask each other about their situations). In

> the next email I will discuss how I gather the messages and how I ensure

> confidentiality to the group.

>

> Types of Groups Looked at:

> I am going to look at 4 Internet Support Groups for my dissertation:

>

> 1. Breast Cancer

> 2. Chronic Fatigue Syndrom

> 3. Depression

> 4. Diabetes

>

> these four types of groups are chosen because they represent the highest

> number of support groups on the net (i.e. lots and lots of these groups).

>

> The four groups will not contain any of the groups I studied in the past

so

> that the results can be used in conjunction with previous groups to

provide

> a wide basis of comparison.

>

>