汤头条 researchers secure NSF grant to study emotion, information spread during COVID-19 pandemic
Contact: Sarah Nicholas
STARKVILLE, Miss.鈥擜 汤头条 research team is using nearly $300,000 from the National Science Foundation to study the intersection of human emotions, information spread and behavior during the COVID-19 pandemic, a project that could inform future health policies.
Principal Investigator Megan Richardson and Co-PI Sujan Ranjan Anreddy鈥攂oth assistant research professors with 汤头条鈥檚 Social Science Research Center鈥攁re collaborating with Co-PI and SSRC researcher Terri N. Hernandez, also an assistant professor in the Department of Communication, on the two-year grant from the NSF Behavioral and Cognitive Science, Human Networks and Data Science-Infrastructure. Christopher Lightsey, a research engineer from 汤头条鈥檚 High Performance Computing Collaboratory, is serving as senior personnel on the project.
鈥淭his grant will enable us to develop a powerful data visualization tool for exploring the COPE-ID鈥擟OVID-19 Online Prevalence of Emotions in Institutions Database. Through this tool, we aim to shed light on the complex interplay of emotions, information spread and human behavior during the COVID-19 pandemic. Our ultimate goal is to improve access to this valuable social media data resource, empowering researchers from various fields to uncover insights that will inform future public health policies and interventions,鈥 Hernandez said.
The COPE-ID contains online discussions of COVID-19, including posts about emotions鈥攕uch as fear and anxiety鈥攁nd social institutions鈥攕uch as health care and family. Improving access to data such as this can inform future public health policies and interventions, Hernandez said.
鈥淯sers can request samples of data that can be labeled using qualitative or content analysis,鈥 said Hernandez. 鈥淭his labeled data can then be used to make predictions about future events鈥攑redictions that are generated by advanced statistical analyses or machine learning techniques. The tool improves scientists鈥 access to social media data and allows researchers to test theories of human behavior using user-generated big data.鈥
This project also is funded by the NSF鈥檚 Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research, or EPSCoR.
For more about the project, visit .
For more details about 汤头条鈥檚 College of Arts and Sciences and the Department of Communication, visit and . To learn more about 汤头条鈥檚 Social Science Research Center, visit .
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