TheLoveBandit
Retired Never Was, Coulda been wannabe
I know the OP indicated this study would run through February, but we've been contacted by Inflexxion that their survey is only at about 40% of the number of respondents needed; so we're picking up our advertising of the study and encouraging anyone who can to participate in this survey. They are hoping to reach their sample size by the end of this month (March 2010).
Thank you very much for your participation and honesty. We have a thread in SUPPORT regarding other ways of funding our site, but for now, there are a few research groups willing to 'donate' to the site in return for recruiting survey takers that match the demographic they need - a situation that benefits both parties when BL provides the link between research and drug user. If you (or anyone else) would like to take up the discussion of other ways to fund the site, we invite you to participate here - Donations Discussion thread
It's also nice to know that what they projected to be a 30 min survey is taking most people much less time to complete; and more importantly that they are responding to feedback about how the survey is written and operating so as to ensure a much more accurate end result. Our thanks to all who have participated as well as those offering constructive feedback.
Yes, indeed - and while we currently rely on member donations, the larger portion of funding to keep this site afloat is currently in the form of research 'donations' in return for our help in recruitment. The link above (Donations Discussion thread) is very much available to discuss alternative funding sources, and all are welcome to participate in that discussion. We've tried to address, to some degree, the discomfort some of you feel in taking these surveys, in that we strive to ensure our member's maintain their privacy and safety, and BL will not work with someone who will endanger you or the site. That said, there is still room for the debate on how closely we should, and can, work with such researchers when we are doing so, in part, for the funding it provides. If we can develop better alternative sources of funding, we can perhaps lessen our dependence on this type of arrangement; but we will still be in favor of helping researchers who can reduce the amount of harm people might inflict on themselves based on what they learn from the world's drug using population.
The site's main goal is Harm Reduction, the act of performing recruitment duty for studies is both in support of global harm reduction AND a means to keeping our site (and thereby our information and community) online and available to everyone. Everyone's participation in this effort is appreciated, and keeps this site available for those who need the information and support we can provide.
The discussion on BL's overall role with researchers, and it's impact on the (ab)use of pharmaceuticals and-or illicit drugs that fill the void of discontinued or modified pharmaceuticals is a valid one, but bigger than the scope of this thread. I'll take it up with the forum mods on if this should be a DS thread, or something in SUPPORT that sidesteps the funding aspect but focuses on the site's role in the online drug community.
Thank you very much for your participation and honesty. We have a thread in SUPPORT regarding other ways of funding our site, but for now, there are a few research groups willing to 'donate' to the site in return for recruiting survey takers that match the demographic they need - a situation that benefits both parties when BL provides the link between research and drug user. If you (or anyone else) would like to take up the discussion of other ways to fund the site, we invite you to participate here - Donations Discussion thread
It's also nice to know that what they projected to be a 30 min survey is taking most people much less time to complete; and more importantly that they are responding to feedback about how the survey is written and operating so as to ensure a much more accurate end result. Our thanks to all who have participated as well as those offering constructive feedback.
I'd like to thank everyone for their comments and for completing the survey.
I acknowledge there are divergent views on whether we should support research sponsored by pharma companies. For the moment, we ask you to support this study by responding genuinely/honestly. Please don't complete the survey if you don't feel comfortable supporting the research - it's better to decide not to do it than to complete the survey using fake information.
On a broader level, Bluelight needs to have a public discussion about how we fund this site. As others have mentioned, we have to get enough funding to run the site - and we all agree that we need to keep things afloat. The debate would be about how we choose to meet our financial imperatives. But that is for another thread
Yes, indeed - and while we currently rely on member donations, the larger portion of funding to keep this site afloat is currently in the form of research 'donations' in return for our help in recruitment. The link above (Donations Discussion thread) is very much available to discuss alternative funding sources, and all are welcome to participate in that discussion. We've tried to address, to some degree, the discomfort some of you feel in taking these surveys, in that we strive to ensure our member's maintain their privacy and safety, and BL will not work with someone who will endanger you or the site. That said, there is still room for the debate on how closely we should, and can, work with such researchers when we are doing so, in part, for the funding it provides. If we can develop better alternative sources of funding, we can perhaps lessen our dependence on this type of arrangement; but we will still be in favor of helping researchers who can reduce the amount of harm people might inflict on themselves based on what they learn from the world's drug using population.
The site's main goal is Harm Reduction, the act of performing recruitment duty for studies is both in support of global harm reduction AND a means to keeping our site (and thereby our information and community) online and available to everyone. Everyone's participation in this effort is appreciated, and keeps this site available for those who need the information and support we can provide.
The discussion on BL's overall role with researchers, and it's impact on the (ab)use of pharmaceuticals and-or illicit drugs that fill the void of discontinued or modified pharmaceuticals is a valid one, but bigger than the scope of this thread. I'll take it up with the forum mods on if this should be a DS thread, or something in SUPPORT that sidesteps the funding aspect but focuses on the site's role in the online drug community.
