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What Factors Affect People's Opinions Toward COVID-19 and Contact Tracing Apps in the United States: A Random Sample Survey

Author

Listed:
  • Haijing Hao

    (Bentley University, USA)

  • Garrett Smith

    (Brigham Young University, USA)

  • Yunan Chen

    (University of California, Irvine, USA)

  • Mainack Mondal

    (Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, India)

  • Po-Shen Loh

    (Carnegie Mellon University, USA)

  • Staci B. Smith

    (University of Mississippi, USA)

  • Xinru Page

    (Brigham Young University, USA)

Abstract

In January 2022, at the peak of COVID-19 in the United States, we administered an online survey on Prolific Academic to 302 participants in the United States, a nationally demographic representative sample based on age, gender, and race. To explore differences in attitudes and opinions among demographic subgroups, we employed several statistical tests, including Mann Whitney U tests, Kruskal-Wallis tests, and chi-squared tests. Our survey results suggest that Americans' opinions towards the COVID-19 pandemic are severely divided by their political views. There is strong partisan polarization in almost every COVID-19 related question in our survey. Our findings suggest that policy makers need to consider partisan polarization and the enormous impact it can have on people's attitudes and behaviors during public health emergencies such as the COVID-19 pandemic. Public health experts need to consider how to convey scientific knowledge about a pandemic without allowing political views to dominate medical conversation.

Suggested Citation

  • Haijing Hao & Garrett Smith & Yunan Chen & Mainack Mondal & Po-Shen Loh & Staci B. Smith & Xinru Page, 2024. "What Factors Affect People's Opinions Toward COVID-19 and Contact Tracing Apps in the United States: A Random Sample Survey," International Journal of Healthcare Information Systems and Informatics (IJHISI), IGI Global, vol. 19(1), pages 1-31, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:igg:jhisi0:v:19:y:2024:i:1:p:1-31
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Samrat Gupta & Gaurav Jain & Amit Anand Tiwari, 2023. "Polarised social media discourse during COVID-19 pandemic: evidence from YouTube," Behaviour and Information Technology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 42(2), pages 227-248, January.
    2. Anton Gollwitzer & Cameron Martel & William J. Brady & Philip Pärnamets & Isaac G. Freedman & Eric D. Knowles & Jay J. Van Bavel, 2020. "Partisan differences in physical distancing are linked to health outcomes during the COVID-19 pandemic," Nature Human Behaviour, Nature, vol. 4(11), pages 1186-1197, November.
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