I have become very interested in social networks, how they are put together, how they connect us, and particularly, what that means for disease transmission. In order to learn about social networks and network analysis I decided to conduct this survey about the social network of SUNY-ESF. Why? Well I have two primary reasons. First, I find that I have a much better time learning new ideas with a concrete example in hand. So do my students. I intend to use the results from this survey as a teaching tool, both for me and for the students in my classes. Secondly, I am really curious how universities are put together, not so much in terms of administrative groups, but in terms of how people associate. Do our social ties actually follow our institutional affiliations? Do certain people bind us all together? These are the questions I hope to address with this survey.
As the email I sent out via Surveymonkey.com (yes, it is a bizarre name, but it is a popular survey-hosting site) states, I will make every effort to ensure your privacy and anonymity. First, I will not share your responses with anyone, even those you listed as friends. Second, I am using the online directory at SU to find the email addresses by which I am contacting each person named. If they are not listed, and presumably do not want to be contacted, I will not contact them. Third, before anyone sees or works with this data I will change all of the names and remove all individually identifying information. Lastly, you can opt out at any time. Just email me at jbrunner@esf.edu. I should also state that the Institutional Review Board at Syracuse University determined that this project is exempt from regulations. In other words, this survey is fine by their standards.