WVU Tech seeks Internet research study volunteers

cthomas@cnpapers.com 304-348-1232 The Department of Psychology atWest Virginia University Institute of Technology is asking you tofriend them, in a scientific manner of speaking. The psychologydepartment is conducting a research study to gauge Internet usersbehaviors and attitudes when they are online. This research projectis being conducted by myself and a group of psychology majors at WVUTech, explained Dr. Guy Vitaglione, chairman of the Montgomeryschools psychology department, last week in an e-mail. As peopleincreasingly spend time interacting with others online (e.g., via e-mail, forums, social networking, instant messaging), they engage ina variety of positive and negative social behaviors, such as sendingan e-mail birthday card, or posting a rude comment on a MySpacepage, or donating money online to a charity in Haiti. These andother online behaviors may be related to certain feelings andattitudes people hold about themselves and about onlineenvironments. Our research group developed a questionnaire thatmeasures these feelings and attitudes. The goal is that scores onsome portions of the measure might predict the likelihood of therespondent engaging in certain online activities. This anonymousInternet survey, found at www.surveymonkey.com/s/internetscale, asksparticipants to respond to a series of questions about theirpersonality and the frequency and kinds of online activities theyengage in. It also asks them questions about their feelings andattitudes about interacting with other people on the Internet. Thegoal is to see if certain personality traits are related to certainInternet activities, Vitaglione said. Vitaglione added that morethan 400 people have filled out the survey, and were always lookingfor more people over the age of 18 to take it. He said the surveytakes approximately 10 to 15 minutes to complete. To begin thequestionnaire, log on to: www.surveymonkey.com/s/interscale.Vitaglione is the principal investigator for this research projectwhich has been acknowledged and placed on file by the West VirginiaUniversity Institutional Review Board.