| Chapter 1: | Introduction |
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This introductory chapter begins by outlining the most influential social support research and its relevance to this work. The significance and benefit of applying a social network perspective to the analysis of online social support is then presented. This is followed by a discussion detailing the salience of this research for the study of computer-mediated communication and human relations. The research site SOL-Cancer Forum is then described, and the chapter concludes with an explanation of the significance of the work.
The second chapter concentrates on social support found in the discussions on the SOL-Cancer Forum. The presence and kind of support exchanged on the Forum must be documented before the impact of its social structure on the transmission of social support is evaluated. The SOL coding scheme is designed to capture and classify support on the Forum in the form of both requests and provisions. It is assessed by two researchers during the course of three rounds of pilot testing and refinement. The final SOL coding scheme is made up of three larger categories of support containing a total of 11 subcategories that are distinguished according to whether support is requested or provided. The first category of emotional support is made up of the greatest number of subcategories, including understanding/empathy, encouragement, affirmation/validation, sympathy, and caring/concern. Informational support is composed of three subcategories, namely advice, referrals, and teaching. Finally, companionship entails chatting, humor/teasing, and groupness. Support frequencies are tallied for each of these categories and subcategories: