Vaccination Research Group Research Studies
Permanent URI for this collection
Browse
Recent Submissions
- H1N1 and Seasonal Flu Vaccination: Interpreting the College Student SurveySoppet, Kelsey; Sozer, Aubrey; Trebach, Joshua (Virginia Tech, 2011)The Vaccination Research Group is interested in understanding the social and cultural contexts for this distrust and examining the themes and stories that are told in antivaccination narratives.
- Tipping Points and Rumors in Antivaccination BeliefsSoppet, Kelsey; Sozer, Aubrey; Trebach, Joshua (Virginia Tech, 2011)
- Vaccination in the News: Newspaper Coverage 1915-22Ghebremichael, Mecal (Virginia Tech, 2012)The newspapers I focused my research on are: Bisbee Daily (Bisbee, Arizona), The Evening Herald (Klamath Falls, Oregon), The Evening World (New York, New York), The Washington Herald (Washington, D.C.), The Commoner (Lincoln, Nebraska), The Day Book (Chicago, Illinois), The Corpus Christi Caller (Corpus Christ, Texas) and The Public Ledger (Maysville, Kentucky). I attempted to pick a wide range of newspapers that represented rural and city areas. The newspapers had to have a large amount of articles from 1915 to 1922 that mentioned vaccine or vaccination. Also the newspapers had to be published daily but I made an exception with the regards to The Commoner because it provided great insight into the time period. After evaluation of these newspapers six arguments became apparent. The arguments are as follow: distrust in the medical community, vaccinations contaminate the body, compulsory vaccination, effects of disease, vaccinations are beneficial and finally vaccinations prevent natural selection.
- Representation of Vaccination in the Early 20th Century: Analyzing American Newspapers between 1915-1921Mack, Erin (Virginia Tech, 2012)In today’s society, vaccination is a highly controversial issue drawing all sorts of people into the debate from scientists and physicians to religious leaders and parents. Currently, there are many different arguments for and against vaccination. Interestingly enough, many of these arguments parallel those of the early 20th century. My goal through this research was to analyze how vaccination was framed and represented in American newspapers during the early 20th century (1915-1921). My research suggested that most newspapers framed vaccination in a positive light, with the exception of the occasional skepticism and doubt.
- Cumberland Plateau Health District 2009-2010 Flu Season Vaccine Study: Final ReportMarmagas, Susan West; Dannenberg, Clare; Hausman, Bernice L.; Anthony, Elizabeth; Boyer, Stacy Bingham; Fortenberry, Lauren; Lawrence, Heidi (Virginia Tech, 2011-08-31)The Cumberland Plateau Health District of the Virginia Department of Health commissioned a team of faculty at Virginia Tech in 2011 to conduct a small pilot study of seasonal flu and H1N1 vaccination practices in Far Southwest Virginia. The study was conducted between February and July 2011. The purpose of the study was two-fold: Understand the reasons why two specific populations (parents of elementary school-aged children and 18-25 year olds) chose to vaccinate or not vaccinate for H1N1 and seasonal flu in 2009-10, and Identify the contributing factors (e.g. logistical barriers, intentional reasons, or parental disengagement) that led to a decision to either vaccinate or not vaccinate. The study was conducted in a small rural county with a significant portion of the population living below the poverty line. The area ranks low in Virginia for health outcomes with more than one quarter of residents reporting to be in poor or fair health in nationally tracked county health statistics. The study had three components: a survey of 86 family units in two elementary schools, indepth in-person follow-up interviews with nine families, and a survey of 158 18-25 year-olds in two educational institutions in the region.