Hello! We are Peter Bath and Julie Ellis - researchers in the Information School at the University of Sheffield in the UK.
We are carrying out a new study that is looking at how people with serious illnesses (and their relatives and close friends) use the Web to share information and discuss their experiences. We are also interested in how people build trust with others and empathise with them online. To learn more about what people share and how they build relationships with others online, we want to talk to people because we think it is really important to hear people’s explanations in their own words.
We are looking for volunteers 18 years+ to be interviewed about sharing online. If you use the Breast Cancer Care forums and have experienced a breast cancer diagnosis or you have a relative or a friend with the condition and you think you might be able to help us, then please do get in touch. Our contact details are at the end of this message.
We realise that you may have questions you would like to ask before you agree to be interviewed. That’s fine. If you get in touch, we can send you further information about the study and what taking part in an interview will involve. You can also get in touch with Anna Brown, Forum Co-ordinator at Breast Cancer Care using the email moderator@breastcancercare.org.uk if you would like to chat to someone at Breast Cancer Care before contacting us.
We will share the findings from this research with Breast Cancer Care to help develop online services for people affected by breast cancer. We really hope that this study will be helpful to individuals and organisations that set up web-sites for people to share their stories and experiences about living with illness in the future.
If you think you can help - we’d love to hear from you.
If you’d like to learn more about taking part in an interview, please contact Julie at: julie.ellis@sheffield.ac.uk or you can call Julie on 0114 222 2690.
Many thanks
Peter and Julie
