MSU Cross Country Study

Supported by

University of Waterloo

MSU Track and Field Alumni Association, The Finish Line Club

Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada

Welcome to the Survey Page! Your first question may be, "Why are we conducting a survey?"

The book we will eventually publish is intended to include a complete historic record of Michigan State University's cross country program as well as a social history of its athletes. The survey is designed to gather information about individual athletes such as yourself.

Through this research project we are trying to understand the role running has played throughout your life, not just while you were competing at Michigan State. Equally important, we want to understand how and when people withdraw from running. As such, we are very interested in your responses even if you have totally stopped running. We hope that you participate in our survey.

As you begin work on the admittedly long questionnaire, please feel free to take your time! It is not imperative that you complete the questionnaire in one sitting. In fact, that might drive you crazy! Instead, we suggest doing it in small chunks. There are three sections: one focusing on your college years, one examining how you got into running prior to college, and one for the years following your graduation. You may wish to start with questions that most interest you and go from there. That said, we believe that all questions are important, so we ask that you answer them all to the best of your ability. Survey questions and instructions are provided here. Thanks for your input! Go Green!

Our on-line data collection ran from September 2009 through September 2011 and is now shut down. However, it’s not too late to add your input. Indeed, we welcome and encourage additional responses.

How to complete your survey:

• Skim over the attached PDF file to get a sense of the survey content. This link is provided at the bottom of this page. Feel free to refer to this link at any time throughout the process.
• Contact Mark Havitz at mhavitz@uwaterloo.ca or (519) 888-4567 x33013 to request a Word file containing the open-ended questions on the survey. Complete them at your leisure and e-mail your responses as an e-mail attachment to the above address. Hard copy versions are also available if you prefer pen and paper. This is where you can share your personal stories.
• Complete several pages of quantitative response questions via the hard copy pages that we will send to your home address and mail in those responses using the stamped envelope we provide based on your request above. These data will be used to test several models of people’s commitment to running over their lifespans and show how running affects our quality of life and health.

It’s really that easy. We look forward to hearing from you!

Click Here to View a Sample of the Questionnaire