A STUDY ON OPINION DISTRIBUTION ON COVID 19 VACCINATION IN PAKISTAN: TRADITIONAL AND SOCIAL MEDIA AS PREDICTORS OF OWN OPINION
Keywords:
Covid-19 vaccination, climate of opinion, media congruency, spiral of silence, perceived public opinion, impact of media, media in shaping opinions, social media and covid19 vaccinationAbstract
This research explored the distribution of opinion about a controversial health issue i.e., Covid19 Vaccination in a population set of university students in Pakistan. As Covid19 vaccination became a universal controversy and in a less developed nation like Pakistan it also became a controversial issue among the masses. The current study aimed to explore the distribution of opinions about this health issue and its relationship with traditional and social media. A questionnaire survey involving a probability sample of 400 respondents (selected from a private leading university) was conducted in Rawalpindi, Pakistan; right after the 2019 vaccination started and the scandal of the second Covid-19 wave broke in Pakistan in Feb 2021. The findings suggest that among the population majority are in favor of the vaccination. Moreover, one’s own opinion, perception of the opinion of friends and family, perception of the opinion of country people, perception of the opinion of future country people have a significant relationship with the media and social media perception of opinion. Media (including both traditional and social media) is found to have a role in perceptions of opinion as also explained by Noelle Neumann’s (1974) Spiral of Silence Theory. Public awareness persuasive campaigns on both traditional media and social media can help the public adopt the Covid19 vaccination at a much more rapid rate.
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