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Because RTI is not a covered healthcare provider, health plan or health care clearing house, and Protected Health Information (PHI) is not being collected and stored in tandem with identification, HIPAA does not apply. We do not ask for RL name or contact information in our survey. Avatar and user names will be separated from the survey responses for analysis. Access to survey results will be limited to RTI employees who require the information to conduct analysis of the results. It will be stored on our secure servers and destroyed after a year. We take privacy and security extremely seriously, and our study is being conducted under the oversight of an Institutional Review Board through RTI’s Office for Research Protection and Ethics. If you choose to participate, you will be able to review a consent screen which outlines this information before continuing with the survey. If you have other specific questions or concerns, please let us know by contacting me in-world or calling the principal investigator, Saira Haque, PhD, at 1-866-RTI-1958.

These links can give you a better idea of past research studies in SL: http://journals.tdl.org/jvwr/article/view/621 http://ssc.sagepub.com/content/early/2011/05/23/0894439311410024.abstract http://www.rti.org/publications/rtipress.cfm?pub=15645

Paid for and conducted by RTI International.

Absolutely I can provide more information. There is currently not a specific website pertaining to this study, other than RTI's main website. However, this will give you an idea of some of the work that we do, including the research we conduct and some of the projects in which we are involved. For more specific information about previous studies, publication record, results, etc. you can contact the Project Director, Saira Haque, PhD. She can be contacted at 1-866-RTI-1958. Also, if you have questions about your rights as a study participant, or concerns as to whether the research has been properly reviewed, you can contact RTI's Office of Research Protection at 1-866-214-2043. The study has yet to be published as we are currently in the process of collecting data from Residents. The name of the study that this survey is linked to is the Digital Life & Wellness Study. It is paid for and conducted by RTI International. Please feel free to contact Mrs. Haque with questions about other RTI research projects in SL. Also feel free to IM me with specific questions.

RTI International (www.rti.org)

I work for a nonprofit research organization and we are conducting a research study within Second Life of users who currently have or have EVER had a chronic medical condition. This is 1 of several studies we have conducted in-world since 2009. The research has been thoroughly reviewed and is being conducted under strict ethical guidelines and clearances. The only eligibility requirements are that you are a U.S. resident and that you have a chronic medical condition in real life. If you have any questions or concerns at all, please feel free to send me a message. All study participants will receive L$1,000 for their time. The first step is to complete this very brief screener survey to determine eligibility. http://www.surveygizmo.com/s3/699158/f3070c235f46 Thanks, Jessica Davenport

My forum posts keep disappearing and I'm wondering why... I have read the Community Guidelines, but wanted to know if there were any restrictions against reposting the same information over a certain time period. I'm also curious as to whether it's because of the content. I am looking for survey participants for a study I'm conducting through my employer in real life, though it pertains to Second Life. The posts lists the employer's name and website. Is this why?