{"id":124064,"date":"2021-03-09T14:45:35","date_gmt":"2021-03-09T13:45:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/?p=124064"},"modified":"2025-12-19T11:25:27","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T10:25:27","slug":"covid-science-this-researcher-wants-to-understand-why-people-dont-trust-vaccines","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/2021\/03\/09\/covid-science-this-researcher-wants-to-understand-why-people-dont-trust-vaccines\/","title":{"rendered":"Corona science: This researcher wants to understand why people don\u2019t trust vaccines"},"content":{"rendered":"

Vaccinating against the Covid-19 virus plays a pivotal role in getting the pandemic under control. More and more people are becoming eligible for immunisation, but quite a few of them are still hesitant about getting the jab. Josje ten Kate, sociologist and doctoral candidate at Erasmus School of Social and Behavioural Sciences, is currently researching why some people view vaccines with such suspicion. She hopes to clarify which factors play a role in their decision whether or not to be vaccinated.<\/p>\n

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\n\t\n\n<\/svg>\n<\/span>\n\tImage by:<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tLevien Willemse<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>

How do you research what drives people to be wary of vaccines<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cI am currently rolling out a survey together with my two PhD supervisors, Jeroen van der Waal and Willem de Koster, in which we present specific situations to the respondents and ask them to choose between specific options. For example, we ask them to choose between a vaccine and an alternative with specific characteristics and then check which aspects inform their decision. We work with fictional situations to avoid connotations with specific brands. After all, people may have certain preconceptions about one brand or other.
\n\u201cFor the first part of my dissertation, I researched immunisation campaigns in general. At the time, I mainly spoke with parents \u2013 about getting their children inoculated and why they may have doubts about doing this. I now want to determine if similar considerations play a role during a pandemic, in the context of inoculations in the general population.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\t

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