Contact: Sarah Nicholas

STARKVILLE, Miss.—Faculty at Mississippi State University are conducting a survey to learn how Mississippians are assessing knowledge, forming attitudes and engaging in practices concerning social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic.

A collaboration between MSU’s Social Science Research Center and the Department of Psychology within the College of Arts and Sciences, the study also will seek Mississippians' opinions about their confidence in the state’s ability to handle the coronavirus outbreak and understand the prevalence of virus symptoms among Mississippians. The project is funded by a grant from the Mississippi State Department of Health.

Project leader Robert McMillen, a psychology professor and associate director of the SSRC, is collecting survey data with the SSRC’s Survey Research Laboratory, a designated service center at MSU.

John F. Edwards, MSU associate research professor and Survey Research Laboratory director, said he will employ a telephone survey to collect the data using a dual-frame, random-digit-dialing methodology. Data collection is expected to begin this week.

“The Survey Research Laboratory at the SSRC uses a random sample of telephone numbers drawn from all numbers in existence in the target area, which in this case is the state of Mississippi,” Edwards said, noting the random sample includes both landline and cellphone numbers purchased from a sampling company.

“These numbers are not accompanied by any identifying information such as name or address,” Edwards said. “Drawing a random sample from the entire population of potential survey respondents is critical for ensuring the generalizability of the research findings.”

“This survey is an attempt to provide the Mississippi State Department of Health and other stakeholders with objective data to inform their response to this pandemic,” McMillen said. “Social distancing is a critical component of slowing down the spread of this disease, and we hope to provide the health department with insight into how well Mississippians are doing this.”

“We are especially interested in the social distancing efforts of tobacco users, given the evidence that smoking and vaping may increase the risk of a severe COVID-19 infection,” McMillen said. “As an interdisciplinary center within this land-grant university, the SSRC is excited to apply our resources and skills to help inform the state during this pandemic.”

For telephone-based surveys, the SRL maintains a state-of-the-art call center with 30 interviewer stations. The laboratory utilizes a computer-assisted-telephone-interviewing (CATI) system. The data collection process is based on rigorous sampling methodology.

The SSRC was established in 1950 to promote, enhance and facilitate social science research and related scholarly activities and fosters a rigorous and independent research environment to ensure objective, relevant and unbiased analyses. Scientists from disciplines on and off campus collaborate in the SSRC to work on common research problems.

The SSRC research portfolio exceeds $10 million per year with project funding stemming from a variety of sources, including federal and state agencies, foundations, MSU units and other public and private entities.

MSU’s College of Arts and Sciences includes more than 5,200 students, 325 full-time faculty members, nine doctoral programs, 14 master’s programs, and 27 undergraduate academic majors offered in 14 departments. For more details about the College of Arts and Sciences or the Department of Psychology, visit www.cas.msstate.edu or www.psychology.msstate.edu.

MSU is Mississippi’s leading university, available online at www.msstate.edu.