100 Days in Appalachia and its partners in the West Virginia University Reed College of Media are undertaking a survey of the information middle and high school students share and receive on digital platforms in West Virginia.

The innovative polling project will utilize the SMS-based software GroundSource, which enables researchers to engage with students quickly and easily via text message.

The students will be asked to anonymously share what social media and other websites they spend their time on and what kind of content they encounter there. Their answers will be used to inform a long-term project trying to measure how these messages are shared and what impact they have on young Appalachians in the real world.

Are you a student interested in taking part in the survey or a parent or educator who’d like to get their student involved? Contact us now to register to take the digital survey.

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All of the responses to this survey will be anonymous, although students will have the opportunity at the end of the surveying process to speak in more detail with researchers about their experiences.

The overarching polling results will be made available to participating schools and classrooms, but researchers will not share individual student information with educators, unless there is a reason to believe that student is potentially at risk for harm or may be considering harming someone else.

Students will be asked approximately 20 questions over the course of one week prior to the end of the 2018-2019 school year.

Questions will be texted to student’s cell phones and will take just a few seconds to complete. All cell phone data submitted by respondents will remain secure and private, and will not be shared with any third parties.

In addition to polling students, researchers would like to also survey parents of middle and high school students and educators and school service personnel. If you are interested in participating in that future survey, you can also fill out the contact form above.

For more information about the project, contact 100 Days in Appalachia’s Digital Managing Editor, Ashton Marra, at [email protected], or by phone at 304.838.0540.

 

PROJECT PARTNER:

Reed College of Media at West Virginia University

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This article was originally published by 100 Days in Appalachia, a nonprofit, collaborative newsroom telling the complex stories of the region that deserve to be heard. Sign up for their weekly newsletter here.