Information on research projects done on 7 Cups!

Hi All! I wanted to clarify some items with you in regards to research projects announced & conducted on 7 Cups. Today, LaraG announced a research project & invited participation. Some of you felt this was out of context and that it encouraged the sharing of contact information. I would like further outline how research projects work at 7 Cups & what you can expect moving forward.

As many of you know, we have done a few research projects here at 7 Cups. Before a project makes it way into the community, it requires approval from our admin team. Because we get many requests, we set up a research arm of 7 Cups over a year ago. You can read about it here. Anyone who would like to conduct a research project at 7 Cups or with 7 Cups users is required to fill out the application form listed on our research page. We vet each project for quality & relevance. Often, we do not move forward with submissions.

In the forums, you will sometimes see individuals share a research project with the community. In these cases, the protcol is the same. Remove the content & refer them to this research page. All approved research projects will be announced by a 7 Cups site admin. If it is not announced by an admin, it is not approved yet & should be subject to moderation. To further increase transparency, I have moved all of the current research projects to this special forum section for your reference.

In term of the off-site contact concern, i do not believe inviting participating in a research project is revealing personal contact information with other 7 Cups users. Example: If a listener refers a member to a suicide hotline and in order to gain access to that resource, the member has to make a phone call.. then there could be a chance that they shared their personal information with this hotline. But this hotline is not connected to 7 Cups in anyway. Connecting is one-way street, there is no mutual exchange of information. No two 7 cups community members connect offsite. One person saught additional resources not provided by 7 Cups and in so doing shared some information about themselves.

Research projects are the same thing. There is a one way exchange between the participant and the research organization. In no way are two community members exchanging personal information. If you do not feel comfortable sharing your information with the research organization, then you do not have to particiate. It is up to you to decide.