Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Date

2022

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts

Department

Sociology

Committee Chair

Wesley James

Committee Member

Carol Rambo

Committee Member

Joseph Lariscy

Abstract

There is an overwhelming amount of mistrust and hesitancy toward the COVID-19 vaccine. Research has established that the main reasons for COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy are low confidence in vaccines, medical mistrust, and various other demographic factors. A less understood yet critically important factor that uniquely affects vaccination efforts is conflicting messages from mainstream social media and misinformation. This research aimed to investigate this emerging phenomenon of media influence in Mississippi, which ranks second in the nation with the lowest vaccination rates and number one in COVID-19 related deaths. This study draws on secondary data consisting of mail-in surveys of randomly selected Mississippi addresses. The results showed that respondents who use factual news sites are 200% more likely to be vaccinated. Moreover, respondents with a master's degree or higher are 480% more likely to be vaccinated. Older respondents aged 61 and over are 15 times more likely to be vaccinated than younger respondents; factors essential to consider when looking at the probability of receiving at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine and increasing uptake.

Comments

Data is provided by the student.

Library Comment

Dissertation or thesis originally submitted to ProQuest.

Notes

Open access

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