Write a Comment
7 Comments
I started to answer the survey (on two different occasions) but found many of the questions woefully assumptive and not very clear, so I could not answer them in a way I felt truly reflected an honest response. I feel that this is an important issue and should be addressed, but I don't think I can complete the survey in its current wording/phrasing.
Hi Jay and Barbara, sorry for the delay in responding. Anyone can take the survey. We do ask if they are positive, so we'll be able to break out responses by those positive and those negative, don't know or choose not to answer that question. The survey was originally written for an American audience and asks what state someone is from, but there also is an option to identify what country someone is from. We may end up doing another survey written for a global audience (the issues differ from country to country, region to region), but we're starting out with the U.S. issues. We are really looking for people with conflicted and confused opinions on the issue, so please encourage all to take it. Thanks.
Sean, what about Barbara Kelly's question? Should I urge all my friends, mostly seronegative and liberal, but with conflicted or confused opinions on this topic, to take the survey? Or is the sample population being "tested" as it were, for responses, construed, for the purposes of the survey, more narrowly than that? Jay
Ben, The scope of the research project was the U.S., but when we started disseminating the survey we had a lot of interest from people outside the U.S. (and, of course, the list serves we use to promote it don't go just to people in the U.S.) So we added a "country" option next to the listing of the U.S. states. Next time we'll make it clearer. Thanks for pointing this out. Sean
It would have been helpful if they'd pointed out that this survey is only for people in the US. It didn't mention it anywhere until I'd got most of the way through. If they DO want people from outside the US to answer it, they need to change the wording of some of the questions.
What about those of us who are not at this time personally affected by/with HIV, but who care very much about those who are? Should we also take your survey, or would that muddy it up?
Sean Strub
Glen, if you like, please send me comments you have on the survey instrument (to sean.strub --at-- gmail.com) as we may revise it and do further research at a later date. We are exploring some complicated concepts in it and trying to find the best way to phrase questions in order to get meaningful responses is an ongoing process. Regards, Sean
June 28, 2012