Take the online survey here.
Set on determining the differential risks involved with cardiovascular disease, Chris Myers, associate professor of marketing and management, and Yvonne Villaneuva-Russell, assistant professor of sociology, have launched a two-week study.
In order to promote the study, Myers and Villaneuva-Russell are conducting an online survey, available to all students to take at www.theeasttexan.com.
Aiding Myers and Villaneuva-Russell in the study, which was launched on Sept. 10, are graduate students Sarah Jean Bell and Chaitanya Seella, who helped conduct some of the background research.
“The survey is only being conducted online because of resource limitations. It takes approximately 15 minutes and asks attitudinal, acculturation, demographic, and health history questions of students and their immediate blood relatives. The questionnaire is confidential and totally voluntary,” Myers said.
Funding for the study has been provided with a mini-grant from the graduate school and additional money from the College of Business and Technology.
According to Myers, since the goal of the study is to determine the risks for cardiovascular disease, it is extremely important that they get a diverse group of participants in the survey.
“We need all ethnic backgrounds as well as for students to indicate their cultural heritage on specific questions on the survey,” Myers said.
So far, overall student participation has been going well, but Myers and Villaneuva-Russell have not yet received the amount of ethnic participation needed to make the study more valid. Currently, ethnic enrollment accounts for about 30 percent of enrollment, including international students.
“Our ethnic participation is somewhere around 10 percent. If we don’t get the required representation, we will be unable to investigate some of the crucial issues facing some ethnic groups,” Myers said.
What sets their study apart is that it focuses on the integration of acculturation – or a person’s assimilation of new culture – and quality of care, which are both major contributors to cardiovascular disease. Myers and Villaneuva-Russell are looking at these characteristics to better understand differences in the prevalence of heart disease.
The survey will serve as a trial run to perfect new measurement techniques and make revisions before expanding to the Dallas/Fort Worth area – possibly College Station.
“It is important that we all understand that studies such as these that impact health and any other major issues in this country could be instrumental in future policy decisions. So, it is important that when we do participate, we respond based on our individual experiences and circumstances,” Myers said.