I would like to briefly explain how the Urban Life study works. For anyone who previously took part in Urban Life you will be experiencing a new exciting look to our questionnaires. From 2010 we aim to give Urban Life a more community feel. We will have member profiles (and prizes for the best profiles) and discussion forums on new and exciting issues. We will also be hosting online focus groups throughout the year. There are two different styles of questioning:

1. There are 4 main surveys; these will be sent out every quarter. These will be sent to you via e-mail, and will come directly from me - so please look out for an e-mail from chris.cowley@myurbanlife.ie. Each survey should take no more than 15 minutes to complete.
2. In between these main surveys we will also be sending you the occasional mini-poll, on a range of current newsworthy issues or on a particular topic of interest to Metro Herald. These will be much shorter than the main survey, no more than 5 minutes, and again will come from me via e-mail.

All in all, I promise not to take up more than 15 minutes of your time each month. Also we will be running discussion forums throughout the year to get your opinions on a range of topics.

Quite literally, Urban Life can't work without you. Every effort you make to complete our surveys as soon as you receive them will be greatly appreciated.

I'd like to reassure you about the confidentiality of the information that you give us. The individual responses you give are fully protected by the Data Protection Act. We will only be using and publishing data in an aggregated form, so no individual will ever be recognised. We have asked the market research company, Behaviour & Attitudes to analyse your responses confidentially.

I will keep in regular contact with you by email but if you have any questions at any time please feel free to contact me at chris.cowley@myurbanlife.ie

I look forward to hearing from you across 2010.

Chris Cowley
Editor, Metro Herald