Vaccine Hesitancy during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Understanding the Spread of Misinformation

This project aims to gain increased understanding of how (mis)information flows globally, and more specifically from
high-income countries in the Global North to Low and Middle Income Countries.
The study design is based on a mixed methods approach which, through its flexibility and iterative nature, allows the rapid documentation of vaccine controversies while maintaining scientific rigour. Vaccine controversies will be
monitored online through the analysis of social media and on-site in Guinea and Kenya.
Online. A data collection program in the statisctical computing environment R will be used to collect online public posts concerning COVID-19 and vaccination for both qualitative and quantitative analysis. Volume and top key words and hashtags will be monitored daily. Subjective perception of risk will be used to pre-code individuals’ epidemic risk perception and attitudes towards vaccine related interventions. Quantitative sentiment analysis charts will be produced using the NRC Word-Emotion Association Lexicon. Emerging Vaccine Controversies, understood as emerging controversial topics gaining rapid traction on sites and/or online will be analysed as case studies.
On-site. On-site ethnographic research, including in-depth interviews, diaries, and participant observation, will be carried out to follow key vaccine events, such as potential vaccination campaigns.