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December 3, 2005
Intimate Strangers
This morning's Star Tribune carried an article ("Intimate Strangers") about peoples' willingness to disclose private information to strangers, especially when they are in a situation (like on an airplane) when they are unlikely to see the person again. One focus of the article was about disclosure on the internet. A mom who was linked with 7 other women who were all struggling with parenting teenage boys commented, "Long before any of us were willing to trust the others enough to tell where we lived, we were willing to confess deepest secrets... Even more important were the little things that we never could have explained to a friend or husband -- irrational worries, trivial but trying spousal irritations."
This is consistent with our decision to use an interactive online chat format for interviewing young adults in the next phase of our research project. In pilot work, we found that people were willing to disclose more and use richer description over the internet than on the phone. There's not much formal research on this, but the anecdotal evidence is stacking up. (HrH and I are preparing an article on this topic.)
Unrelated blog discovery ... The December 1 issue of blog "Coffee Grounds" noted a new word, NIVAL, which means "of, growing in, or relating to, snow." Its Latin root (no pun intended) has to do with stems. Somehow NIVAL seems very relevant today - it's been snowing all day, and the white stuff is just piling up. It's nice to look at it out the window without having to slog through or drive in it. I know I'll have to shovel before dark, but for the moment I can mentally play with different uses of this newfound word.
Posted by hgroteva at December 3, 2005 1:32 PM | Technology
Comments
Using on-line chat as an interview instrument -- how very interesting! Please keep us posted as your work develops. It could be a very useful technique in gathering health-related risky behaviors, especially in teens and young adults.
Posted by: Carrie at December 5, 2005 10:24 AM