There is a research project being conducted, called "Geocaching for Excercise and Activity Research" (GEAR).
Are you interested in earning a geocaching trackable? The Center for Community Health Development at the Texas A&M Health Science Center is conducting a research project about how physically active you are while geocaching. We will be giving out geocaching trackables to individuals who participate in the study! In order to qualify for the study you must be 18 years old or older and be willing to take one 15 minute survey every month for 12 months about your experience geocaching. If you would like to participate in the project, Geocaching for Exercise and Activity Research (GEAR), please click here.
They'll also send you a pedometer to measure how much walking you do. (those LPCs won't add up too much ) I was a little concerned about their request for DOB, since I didn't think that was something they really needed. They told me they only need your age, so I fudged the day of month a little.
I am a research psychologist by training and reasonably well-versed in human behavioral research. Accurate birth date information is likely being requested so that they can look for associations between age and other variables (such as amount of exercise, time spent geocaching, etc.). I looked over their informed consent information and the confidentiality provisions seem to be pretty standard and they are most likely doing this with the advanced approval and ongoing oversight of the Texas A&M Institutional Review Board (doing so outside of that framework could expose the researcher and institution to serious sanctions). Whether anyone chooses to participate is obviously a personal choice, but I would urge everyone who does participate to provide complete and fully accurate data.
Your DOB gives your age with more precision than your age rounded off (which people are likely to be inconsistent in how they do it). Garbage in...garbage out. I also wonder who the person was who said that they only "really need the age"? Was that a lab assistant or the Principal Investigator? I suspect the former as it does not sound like something a typical trained scientist would say.
Thank you for signing up for the Geocaching for Exercise and Activity Research (GEAR) Study! This study is a research project conducted by the Center for Community Health Development at the Texas A&M Health Science Center, the College of Education and Human Development at Texas A&M University, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, and Geocaching.com.
The purpose of GEAR is to learn about the amount of physical activity that you do while geocaching. One of the ways we will measure physical activity is by the number of steps you walk each time you go geocaching. In order to track this, we will send you a pedometer and a record book. Please use the pedometer when you go geocaching and record the number of steps you walked in the record book. You will receive the pedometer and record book in the mail in a few days.
We will send you one monthly survey for the next twelve months to collect information about the number of steps you walk and your level of physical activity while geocaching. The first survey will be emailed to you on February 28, 2013. Please track the number of steps you walk, while geocaching, throughout the month of February and include all of this information in the first survey.
Upon completion of six GEAR surveys, you will receive a geocaching trackable. If you complete all twelve monthly surveys, you will be eligible for a limited edition trackable!
Once again, your participation in GEAR is voluntary. You do not have to answer any questions that you do not wish to answer, and you may withdraw from the study at any time. If you choose to stop participating in the study, there will be no effect on your relationship with any part of the Texas A&M System, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, or Geocaching.com.
So in the end you could get 2 coins. One after 6 months and the second "limited edition" after 12 months.
cooley1103 wrote:I signed up and got the following message:
Good morning,
Thank you for signing up for the Geocaching for Exercise and Activity Research (GEAR) Study! This study is a research project conducted by the Center for Community Health Development at the Texas A&M Health Science Center, the College of Education and Human Development at Texas A&M University, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, and Geocaching.com.
The purpose of GEAR is to learn about the amount of physical activity that you do while geocaching. One of the ways we will measure physical activity is by the number of steps you walk each time you go geocaching. In order to track this, we will send you a pedometer and a record book. Please use the pedometer when you go geocaching and record the number of steps you walked in the record book. You will receive the pedometer and record book in the mail in a few days.
We will send you one monthly survey for the next twelve months to collect information about the number of steps you walk and your level of physical activity while geocaching. The first survey will be emailed to you on February 28, 2013. Please track the number of steps you walk, while geocaching, throughout the month of February and include all of this information in the first survey.
Upon completion of six GEAR surveys, you will receive a geocaching trackable. If you complete all twelve monthly surveys, you will be eligible for a limited edition trackable!
Once again, your participation in GEAR is voluntary. You do not have to answer any questions that you do not wish to answer, and you may withdraw from the study at any time. If you choose to stop participating in the study, there will be no effect on your relationship with any part of the Texas A&M System, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, or Geocaching.com.
So in the end you could get 2 coins. One after 6 months and the second "limited edition" after 12 months.
And a pedometer too, although it's not clear if we'll need to send it back. (I'm guessing it won't be a high quality fancy dancy one) I actually have one I used to use a bit, buried here somewhere...
cooley1103 wrote:I signed up and got the following message:
So in the end you could get 2 coins. One after 6 months and the second "limited edition" after 12 months.
Ummm I see the word "trackable" I do not see the word coin anywhere in there message. Not that is or isn't a reason to sign up but don't want you to be too dissapointed when you get a cashkin.
I emailed them about not receiving a reply...........and received this answer:
"I have confirmed that you are enrolled in the study. Emails were sent out to the participants who signed up within the first two week of the study. We are sending out an email this week to participants who signed up more recently. Sorry for the delay, but we have to send the emails out in bulk. We reached the maximum number of participants last night, so everyone signed up for the study should receive an email by this week. We are also looking into a facebook group/twitter account to update participants on the study’s progress. If you haven’t received an email by the end of the week, please contact me.
I had several questions regarding the participant instructions for the geocaching study. I then contact the Principal Investigator and asked several questions. She replied and also gave me permission to share the dialog with MGS members. The dialog follows:
1. Please define geocaching within the context of the study.
Specifically, does the definition include events (such as picnics)?
Presumably it would if there are physical caches published in conjunction with the event, but what if it is strictly a meet and greet style event? Does the definition include maintenance runs on my own caches (in which I go out and check up on my own caches)?
The geocaching trips referred to in the study can be any type of event or geocaching outing. There will be no specific caches put out by the GEAR study. The study strictly measures the amount of activity you do while geocaching. The only actual study activity is filling out the monthly surveys about the number of steps you walk while doing normal geocaching activities.
2. When do I begin recording? When I get out of the car? What if I am primarily doing something else but collect some geocaches along the way?
For example, the National Mall in Washington DC is a place I often go in order to visit museums. However, on such visits I may take some detours to grab some caches that I happen to be near. When should the pedometer be counting steps? From the time I leave home until I return? What if I don't know that I will be geocaching until I happen to notice that one is nearby? Do I stop and restart the pedometer if I leave the woods, go to a restaurant and then resume caching?
Please record all of the steps you take while on a geocaching trip. If you are geocaching in conjunction with another activity, please record the steps you walk throughout the entire activity. So yes, please start recording when you get out of the car.
3. The logbook forms are not clear. On one hand, it appears that we fill in one 1/2 page (date field through "notes") per trip, but it also has a field "cache id" which suggests that we fill out one form per cache. If the latter, then the book could be filled up in a single outing (many of us find dozens of caches in a single outing). Must we record every cache we visit?
The record book is only for your convenience in tracking the number of steps you walk while geocaching. You do not have to use it if you do not want to. The cache ID is listed on the record booklet pages because it is a way for cachers to identify which geocaching trip they are on. You do not have to record every cache you visit. Some cachers choose to record the cache ID of one of their more memorable finds, so they will remember which trip they were on.
4. What procedure is to be followed if we go geocaching and forget to take the pedometer?
The monthly surveys will ask you if you took the pedometer on your geocaching trip. If you forgot to take it one time, but took it the other times that is okay. You should designate that you took the pedometer on one or more of your geocaching trips. However, we ask that you only report the number of steps you walked while geocaching for trips that you took the pedometer. You won't report on the geocaching trips that you didn't take the pedometer on.
) I was a little concerned about their request for DOB, since I didn't think that was something they really needed. They told me they only need your age, so I fudged the day of month a little. 
