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Background In 2007, NIOSH created the Science Blog as its first social media channel.
The blog has more than 22,000 subscribers. The purpose of the evaluation was to identify
the blog community of readers, its use as a two-way conversation channel and its
effectiveness as an information resource.
Methods Seventy-five readers randomly participated in an online survey from July 2009
to September 2009 to evaluate the Science Blog.
Results Responses indicated that the NIOSH Science Blog was a valued social media
resource. Sixty percent of participants planned to continue using the blog in the next
6 months. A significant proportion of readers reported that they would make changes in the
workplace based on information obtained from the Science Blog.
Conclusions The NIOSH Science Blog provides is a useful communication channel to
provide workplace safety and health information and expand the Institutes reach to new
consumers. Am. J. Ind. Med. 54:384394, 2011. 2011 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
KEY WORDS: social media; NIOSH Science Blog; workplace safety and health;
evaluation
INTRODUCTION
The Internet is a prominent source of information on
almost all topics of interest. People now have the ability to
search for nearly everything online through search engines
and websites, and connect through online communities with
friends, family, and others who share their interests regardless of geographic location or time zones. The advent of
1
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,National Institute for Occupational Safety and
Health, Atlanta, Georgia,
2
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institute for Occupational Safety
and Health,Washington, District of Columbia
y
Senior Health Scientist, Office of Health Communication, Office of the Director.
z
Health Communication Specialist, Office of Health Communication, Office of the Director.
Director.
*Correspondence to: Dr. Virginia Sublet, PhD, Senior Health Scientist, Office of Health
Communication, Office of the Director, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health,
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 870 Spring Park Loop, Celebration, FL 34747.
E-mail: vxs3@cdc.gov
2011Wiley-Liss,Inc.
385
386
Sublet et al.
RESULTS
There were 2,094 blog readers asked to complete the
survey. Of that, 128 self-selected to begin the survey and 43
did not finish usually dropping off after the first question
called (the consent or welcome form) which explained
the survey but did not require any signature. Seventy-five
finished surveys with all closed-ended questions completed
were considered in the analysis. The average time to
complete the survey was 9.6 min.
Demographics
Demographic data were collected for gender, age, race,
ethnicity, and education. Survey respondents were overwhelmingly non-hispanic (89%), with white comprising
the majority of that group (92%), followed by black or
African-American (5.3%) and Asian (4%). AmericanIndian or Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian or other
Pacific Islander both comprised 2.7%.
Respondents were predominantly between the ages of 40
and 59 years old (81%), with 11% falling between 60 and 75
and 8% between 18 and 39 years of age. Those with an
advanced college degree made up 54.7% of respondents,
followed by 36% with a college degree, 8% with some
college, and 1.3% with high school or less. Respondents
were relatively evenly divided between male (49%) and
female (51%).
For the question, Which of the following best describes
you? the highest percent of respondents were safety and
health professionals (24%). Health care professionals
(21.3%) was the second highest response followed by governmentfederal, state, county, local government (18.7%),
consultants (8%), company worker >100 employees (6.7%),
academic (5.3%), company manager >100 employees (4%),
industrial hygienist (4%), company worker <100 employees
(2.7%), company managers <100 employees (1.3%) and
other (4%). There were no respondents who classified themselves as company employer/owners or as union
representatives.
The breakdown of responses to the question, Which
industry do you work in? showed that 38.7% of respondents
reported working in the healthcare industry, 6.7% of respondents were from the manufacturing industry, and another 6.7%
from the services-non-healthcare industry. The agriculture,
forestry, and fishing sector was represented by 2.7% of
participants, and the wholesale and retail trade industry
was represented by 1.3% of participants. No respondents
classified themselves as being from the mining, transportation, warehousing and utilities, or construction industry.
Forty-four percent of respondents classified themselves
under other for industry.
387
388
Sublet et al.
Usefulness
A series of questions in the survey were included to
gauge respondents opinions on how useful the NIOSH
Science Blog is as a resource for action and information.
The specific results are presented in Table II.
FIGURE 3. Overall satisfaction with the Blog (n 75). [Color figure can be viewed in the
at wileyonlinelibrary.com.]
389
TABLE I. Selected Representative ResponsesWhat Respondents Liked Most and Least About the NIOSH Science Blog?
Like Most about the Science Blog
Itis national
Highlights ofrecent NIOSH-sponsoredresearch
Current topics
Sufficient information on topic
Scientific topics
The contentis relevant, accurate and current. Also,there
are plentyoflinkstofollow for more information
NIOSH keepingcurrent (2)
I wouldlike to see a greater numberof theprofessionals contribute to the topics in each blog
Notrespondingto my topics
Arcane topics
Noteasy to see how to connect to other relatedpostings/topics
Couldnt just type in the topic ofinterest H1N1to get info
Needsto havemore frequent contentupdates
Notso frequently updated. Andyoucouldloosen upa biteven though you are a government
body . . . We wont think any less of you!
Too short- sometimes you really wantmore detail,but I realize that a blog can overdo it also
I think you could usemore definition in yourorganization: greateruse ofbold-facedheadings,forexample
The lackof Federal and Statelegislation updates/watches on Health relatedissues public orprivate.
Plus there is a disconnect in the informationsystem,which is quite frustrating,without the supporting
documentation from (Gov and Univ resources) with the linksnecessary for supportingand assisting
thehospital andpre-hospital sectorstobetterplan andprepare in support of CDC,HHS, and FDA
informationstatements and guidelines
Mostof the articles are ofpertinent interest tothemajority of the healthcare industry,but notso much of
thepre-hospital EMS, and Fire Service EMTfirst respondersthat are just as much part of thathealthcare
chain.This is especially trueif MCI,WMD (CBRN) and other natural man-madedisasters arepotentially
part of any healthcare equation in future planning andpreparation
Current information
Current topics
Sufficient information on the topic
Scientific topics
any of the options within the next 6 months. More than one
response could have been chosen. A total of 178 responses
were recorded from the 75 survey respondents. The
responses are show in Figure 7.
DISCUSSION
FUTURE USE OF THE NIOSH SCIENCE BLOG
Survey participants were asked, How likely is it that
you will still be using the NIOSH Science Blog 6 months
from now? Responses are displayed in Figure 6.
Participants were also provided a list of potential behaviors or activities and asked the likelihood they would perform
Scale
Very useful
Useful
Somewhat useful
Not very useful
Notuseful
An important resource
for doing your work (%)
A resource for
partners (%)
Educational information
for workers (%)
50.7
38.7
8
1.3
1.3
46.7
37.3
13.3
1.3
1.3
30.7
38.7
20
8
2.7
29.3
46.7
16
4
4
29.3
46.7
16
4
4
390
Sublet et al.
FIGURE5. SelectedrepresentativeresponsesonsuggestedchangestoimprovesatisfactionwiththeNIOSHscienceBlog.[Colorfigurecanbe
viewed in the online issue,which is available at wileyonlinelibrary.com.]
391
FIGURE 6. How likelyis it that youwill still be usingthe NIOSH Science Blog6 monthsfrom now? (n 75). [Color figure can beviewed in the
online issue,which is available at wileyonlinelibrary.com.]
information, an important resource, a useful tool for collaborating with others, a useful resource for partners, and that it
contained useful or very useful educational information.
Another indication of the perceived value of the
NIOSH Science Blog among respondents was that 60%
answered that they would definitely be using the NIOSH
FIGURE 7. Based on what you read on the NIOSH Science Blog today, how likely are you to make any of the following changes in the next
6 months? (n 75; Non-Exclusive Data; # of responses 178). [Color figure can be viewed in the online issue, which is available at
wileyonlinelibrary.com.]
392
Sublet et al.
NIOSH Science Blog post. So while the topics are constantly changing, it is possible that the topics are of selective
interest to readers.
The majority of survey respondents reported themselves
as being age 40 or older. It is possible that the age of this
group impacted how they viewed the Blog as a tool for
two-way communication. It is known, however, that
individuals in this age range are becoming more significantly involved in social media outlets as are younger
individuals (Lenhart et al., [2010]), so there is the possibility that individuals from a younger age group and the
40 or older age group would view a blogs potential as a
mechanism for two-way communication in a similar way.
The analysis of the survey data has provided the investigators with a picture of the NIOSH Science Blog audience
and their perceptions regarding the usefulness of the Blog.
However, it is difficult to determine if these data can be
extrapolated to a larger group. Additionally, while some data
were collected regarding the respondents intent to use the
information and to revisit the Blog site in the future, it is not
enough information to clearly state whether or not the
NIOSH Science Blog is clearly a more useful two-way
communication tool compared to other communication
channels.
Limitations
There were a number of limitations in this study. One
limitation of the study was that the questionnaire was not
originally developed for the purpose of evaluating a blog, but
instead was adapted for that purpose by the researchers.
There was an advantage to the investigators in using a
pre-approved questionnaire that did not have to be cleared
through the U.S. Office of Management and Budget process
and could be launched quickly. However, despite these
advantages, the use of the pre-approved survey limited the
investigators ability to target the questions specifically to
their research interests about the NIOSH Science Blog as the
pre-approved survey was originally developed to measure
website usability. Another limitation of the survey was that
many of the pre-approved questions had limited options for
modification of the question itself or the possible answers that
respondents could provide to the investigators. This reduced
the investigators ability to gather more in-depth data about
respondents opinions, views, and use of the NIOSH Science
Blog. The sample size made it difficult to do statistical
analysis or extrapolate the survey results to the larger
NIOSH Science Blog community.
As with any survey, there is also a potential for bias, as
respondents are those who select to take part in the survey.
While this potential for bias was somewhat adjusted for by
randomly choosing NIOSH Science Blog visitors to receive
the option to take the survey, those that actually did decide to
complete it may be more motivated to share their opinions
393
CONCLUSIONS
The NIOSH Science Blog is one of the current social
media channels in place at NIOSH and future work should
focus enhancing the use of this channel through new and
diverse activities to reach new audiences.
The current research has given a snapshot in time of the
NIOSH Science Blog. While the study was limited in some
aspects, the data shows that the Blog has value for leaders and
further research is merited. Another study might be conducted to get more detailed information on the blog audience
and the usability of the blog as a two-way form of communication. A future investigation would benefit most from a
survey tool that is specifically developed to elucidate information from respondents regarding their use and intent to
interact with others and NIOSH via the blog platform.
Given that the majority of the respondents reported that
they found the Blog to be a useful tool and planned to visit it
again in the future, it could be argued that the NIOSH Science
Blog has the potential to significantly impact behavior
change in the workplace. A high number of participants
indicated they will use information to educate others through
training or disseminating the information on the blog. In
addition, several respondents indicated they would make a
change in workplace safety and health procedures and
policies or make changes in workplace safety and health
engineering controls, safety equipment, or protective clothing. These are significant findings in the effort to improve and
protect the health and safety of the nations workforce.
The topic of the blog posting may also be an important
influencing factor in community readership. There are more
than 23,000 Science Blog subscribers who are prompted by
RSS feeds and emails when a new posting appears. This
probably accounts for a significant percentage of readers
based on topic interest with 32% of survey participants
reporting that they visit the NIOSH Science Blog after being
notified of a new posting. There also appears to be another
group of people browsing the Internet for topics of interest
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Sublet et al.
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