Thousands of Iowans in 70 rural communities will be contacted by mail soon as part of a survey about how COVID-19 has affected their lives. The survey will be conducted by researchers at Iowa State University and the University of Iowa. David Peters, an I-S-U sociology professor, says there’s been much focus on the big metro areas, but very little discussion about Iowa’s plentiful rural communities.

The surveys should be mailed out within the next few weeks and Peters anticipates the data will be coming back in by early September.

Among the communities selected for the survey are:

Colo, St. Ansgar, Traer, and Webster City.