NSF RAPID Study on the 2020 Coronavirus Social Impacts

Long Doan, Assistant Professor of Sociology, along with Faculty Associates Liana Sayer, Sociology, and Jessica Fish, Family Science, will examine social impacts of the 2020 Coronavirus pandemic. The research team was awarded one of nine National Science Foundation RAPID grants to "utilize the [university's] research strengths to rapidly contribute to human health and related outcomes with respect to the 2019 novel coronavirus (COVID-19), including prevention, control, and response efforts."

Specifically, according to the team, the purpose of this project is to examine the impact of state and local government social distancing efforts on behavior, time spent with others, use of technology and mental and physical wellbeing.

The team proposes to leverage data from several hundred respondents’ daily time use before the pandemic to create a natural experiment that isolates the effects of the pandemic on changes in behavior. In addition, they plan to recruit additional respondents and follow-up with all respondents after the pandemic subsides. Moreover, the team will field a 24-hour retrospective time diary and survey to collect relevant information respondents’ daily behavior and the context for those behaviors. The survey will collect data on sociodemographics, typical sleep, work, and exercise patterns as well as typical approaches to division of labor for housework and carework.

In terms of the research question, the research team wants to see if distinct clusters of social behaviors emerge and whether these types of behaviors relate to changes in mental health. They are particularly interested in exploring how the effects of COVID-19 vary by gender, sexuality, family structure (parental and marital status), race/ethnicity, and immigrant status–all key sociodemographic characteristics that affect time use and wellbeing.

 

Published on Thu, 04/24/2025 - 10:45