Anti-Vaxx Stories

What this study is about: Vaccination has proven controversial in certain public discourses and communities despite conclusive scientific evidence and the widespread agreement by healthcare communities of immunization’s preventive public health benefits and the low risks that modern vaccines pose. Unfortunately, the controversy has become polarized and emotionally explosive, making any possibility of a beneficial dialogue elusive.

This qualitative study will use narrative approaches in psychological inquiry to examine the structures, tropes, and themes of the stories people construct to make sense of the practice of vaccination, with the hope that a comparison between the stories used by people of varying beliefs can aid a more constructive conversation between these groups to emerge.

Research Methodology

This qualitative study will use narrative approaches in psychological inquiry to examine the structures, tropes, and themes of the stories people construct to make sense of the practice of vaccination. We will interview people on various points on the pro-vaccination–anti-vaccination spectrum, and elicit their narrative accounts of vaccination in order to analyze these using narrative approaches such as Narrative Network Analysis, Dialogical Narrative Analysis, and Narrative Practice. We will use these qualitative, narrative approaches to examine the stories that our participants use to form and navigate their identity as anti-vaccination, vaccine-hesitant, or pro-vaccination. After assessing the various themes, tropes, and structures of the stories, we will use the data to compare our findings across the different groups. I hope to find instances of consonance as well as the dissonance between the narratives that might prove helpful in fostering strategies for productive communication between these groups.

Student Qualifications

MS word, MS excel, SPSS, and qualitative research skills preferred.

Student Responsibilities

I am looking for student researchers to assist with several of the tasks required to carry out this qualitative study of the stories of people who consider themselves to be “vaccine-hesitant” or “anti-vaccination,” along with stories from people who identify as “pro-vaccine”. Although no experience with narratological research is necessary (you will be taught the basics of this approach), student researchers will need to possess certain other skills, while other skills are only preferred. Students will not be paid, though independent study credits are available.