FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Jean Fleckenstein Reuter
November 8, 1999 (301) 405-4622
[email protected]
University of Maryland Multi-Cultural Y2K Internet Study Wonders
www.What Will Happen, www.Who Thinks It, and www.Why
COLLEGE PARK, Md -- January 1, 2000. The mere mention of that date can cause a torrent of predictions about what will happen at the turn of the new year. Some say there will be a huge fireball. Others are convinced planes will fall from the sky, automated teller machines will fail and general lawlessness will reign. And then there are those who believe there will be relatively little disruption with life going on as usual -- just another new year.
Now anyone who has ever thought about the impact of Y2K on the world can offer an opinion on the topic and read what others from many different walks of life think as part of an Internet-based study being launched today from the psychology department at University of Maryland. The study, called the "Maryland Millennium Project," seeks to assess how people around the world view the approaching calendar change -- their hopes, fears and preparations for the Y2K bug. The researchers hypothesize that how people deal with specific Y2K issues is rooted in their individual beliefs, fears, hopes and general outlook on life.
"The millennium bug represents a unique opportunity to study how people of different cultures think about an uncertain, universal and fast-approaching stressful occurrence," said Lisa G. Aspinwall, an associate professor of psychology at Maryland and project director. Aspinwall is a prolific author whose research interests include the study of optimism, proactive coping, and how people control and direct their own actions.
The study is housed at an Internet home page, www.y2k.umd.edu. Visitors to that site will have an opportunity to answer confidential and anonymous questions about how worried and prepared they personally are for the millennium, as well as to offer opinions about the level of readiness of their governments, other world governments and businesses.
Invitation to the site is by word-of-mouth. "This is completely voluntary," explained Aspinwall. "We are emailing people and asking them to visit the site. We also are listing the homepage on search engines under the Y2K listings so that anyone browsing on that topic would find our site. This type of 'snowball sampling' really depends on people enjoying the site and then forwarding the information to others who might be interested in what we are doing."
The study is being translated into multiple languages, including Spanish, French, Arabic, Korean, Mandarin and German. An offline version of the survey also has been created for use in rural areas and other locations where Internet use is less common. Volunteer participants will be recruited in shopping centers, bus stations and other public areas.
No identifying information about individual participants will be collected. However, descriptive data will be available on an ongoing basis so that anyone who visits the homepage can read about what people from specific countries and demographic groups are saying and feeling about the millennium bug. Browsers also can observe who else currently is on the site from different domains, including .edu sites, major Internet service providers, and other countries.
At the end of the survey, researchers have posted a request asking visitors to bookmark and the site and return after the new year to write personal anecdotes about what happened to them on Jan. 1, 2000. The website managers then will compile and post the best Y2K stories from around the world. Aspinwall plans to release additional findings in mid-2000.
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