Dear Group Moderator,

I apologize for taking your time today, but want to ask for your
assistance with a research project that I am conducting. To begin
with, let me assure you that the data that result from this survey
will be used only for research purposes. Also, please note that I am
NOT funded by an external source, nor is this study associated with
commercial interests of any kind.

My name is Christopher Beaudoin. I am a professor at Indiana
University-Bloomington, where I conduct research in the area of
health communication. In this research, I have examined the role
that public health campaigns, online health information and other
media can play in public health. I have published related articles
in top journals in the areas of health and mass communication.

I am currently conducting an online survey with a specific focus on
cancer-related online "communities" such as your own. In the study,
I am seeking the online survey responses of people who use such
cancer-related sites. This research would examine the reasons why
people use your site and, importantly, the benefits that they
obtain. It can lead to improvements in public health—and, more
specifically, improvements in online health information and the
benefits it offers online health information-seekers.

I would like to have access to the members of your online site. If
this is possible, I would post a link on the site that requests the
participation of site members. The link would take people to the
survey that I have already developed online. The participation would
be voluntary. In addition, various participants will be randomly
selected and awarded gift certificate for amazon.com.

I am interested in receiving your feedback on this idea. I can be
reached via email (beaudoin@...). In addition, you can
peruse my Indiana University website at
http://php.indiana.edu/~beaudoin/webpage.htm.

I look forward to your reply—and thank you for your time today,

Christopher E. Beaudoin, Ph.D.