The Effects of Group Closure and Organizational Network Ties in Closed Populations During a Pandemic

在这个项目中，调查了与新冠肺炎相关的健康信息和错误信息以及封闭宗教社区中的社会疏远和孤立做法的普遍性。过去的研究发现，封闭的宗教社区是传染病传播的高危场所，这可能会对公共健康产生过大的影响。这项研究考察了群体封闭和有凝聚力的组织网络联系是否与健康错误信息的增加和社交疏远和孤立做法的减少有关。研究结果为这些社区内的卫生干预和更广泛的公共卫生决策提供了有价值的信息。在这个项目中，通过结合四个数据来源来研究封闭宗教社区中的新冠肺炎相关行为。首先，分析会众成员发布的抄写报告中与新冠肺炎相关的信息以及社会疏远和孤立的内容。第二，从会众名录中收集数据。第三，随着时间的推移收集和跟踪与新冠肺炎相关的官方指示。第四，收集县卫生区随时间推移的新冠肺炎发病数据。对这些数据源进行整合和分析，以确定与新冠肺炎相关的健康信息、错误信息和行为相关的因素，并为健康社会学、社会网络和宗教社会学子领域内的理论提供信息。该项目由社会学项目、已建立的激励竞争性研究项目(EPSCoR)以及人类网络和数据科学项目(HND)共同资助。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

In this project, the prevalence of COVID-19 related health information and misinformation and social distancing and isolation practices within closed religious communities is examined. Past research identifies closed religious communities as high-risk sites for the spread of infectious diseases, which can have outsized impacts on public health. This study examines whether group closure and cohesive organizational network ties are associated with an increased prevalence of health misinformation and a reduced prevalence of social distancing and isolation practices. Findings provide information valuable for informing health interventions within these communities and public health decision making more generally. In this project, COVID-19-related behaviors in closed religious communities are studied through combining four sources of data. First, published scribe reports by congregational members are analyzed for COVID-19 related information and social distancing and isolation content. Second, data are collected from congregational directories. Third, COVID-19-related official instructions are gathered and tracked over time. Fourth, county health district data on COVID-19 incidence over time are collected. These data sources are integrated and analyzed to identify factors associated with COVID-19-related health information and misinformation and behaviors and inform theories within the sociology of health, social networks, and sociology of religion subfields. This project is jointly funded by the Sociology Program, the Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR), and the Human Networks and Data Science Program (HNDS).This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.