A Survey of Blogs and Blog Users



The purpose of this survey is to examine the uses and users of blogs. We ask that only those individuals who access blogs to participate in this survey. Additionally, respondents must be at least 18 years of age.

This study is being conducted for academic purposes by researchers at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville. The UT Institutional Review Board has approved this survey. All responses will be kept confidential and no identifying personal factors will be used in reporting the results of this survey. Your email address is used only to check for duplicate transmission and is deleted after the survey is received.

To take the survey, begin clicking on the response options. Completion of this survey will be taken as your permission to participate in this research. If at any time you wish to withdraw from the survey just close your browser window. There is no penalty for withdrawing.

The survey should take about 20 minutes to complete. If you have any questions, please e-mail us at jemsurveys@utk.edu

As part of the survey procedures we've including a "snowball" option - we're asking you to please send the survey on to your friends and family members who access blogs and are at least 18 years old. There's a form at the end of the survey on which you'll enter your friends' email addresses and they'll be whisked the survey. Your friends’ email addresses are neither recorded nor stored, nor will they be solicited by anyone other than yourself.

For this survey, you will be asked to examine if and how you use the following online and non-online resources for political information:

a) Blogs: News oriented/discussion oriented Websites hosted by a blogger.
b) World Wide Web: Online sites.
c) Electronic Mailing Lists/Listservs: Subscription based e-mail groups.
d) Electronic Bulletin Boards: Online messages that can be read at any time.
e) Chat Forums/Instant Messaging: Venues that allow simultaneous posting and responding to online messages with other subscribers or anonymous people.
f) Traditional media: Broadcast and cable television, broadcast radio, printed newspapers and their online counterparts.