Rovie Lanebel D.

Salado, MAEPM 2

COMPREHENSIVE EXAM
Methods of Research
Dr. Randy Tudy

COVID-19 Vaccine Skepticism: Determinants of Rural Residents' Vaccine

Reluctance

Rationale of the study

 Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, a study has shown that vaccine hesitancy is
one of the leading threats to global health by the World Health Organization in
2019, and this has become more prevalent in the light of the pandemic.
 “Vaccine hesitancy” means the reluctance or unwillingness to be vaccinated or
have one’s children vaccinated against a disease, even if proven safe and effective.
 Vaccine hesitancy poses dangers to both the individual and his or her community,
since exposure to a contagious disease places the person at risk, and individuals
are far more likely to spread the disease to others if they do not get vaccinated
(Zitner, 2020)
 Published research was carried out in high-income countries stated that one of the
reasons of the hesitancy of people in subjecting themselves in the vaccination is
the fast pace development of the vaccine.
 Vaccine hesitancy threatens to undermine the success of coronavirus disease2019
(COVID-19) vaccination programs.
 Vaccination confidence is influenced by trust in the safety and effectiveness of
vaccines, trust in health care professionals and public health and health care
delivery systems, and trust in the policymakers who develop vaccination
requirements.
 Vaccination complacency is influenced by individuals’ health beliefs (e.g.,
perceived risk of vaccination, perceived risk and severity of disease, perceived
need for the vaccine, and self-efficacy of vaccination) and their assessment of the
risks and benefits of vaccination.
 The COVID-19 vaccine is offered to a public suffering from pandemic fatigue,3
while misinformation in popular and social media and conspiracy beliefs about
COVID-19 pandemic and COVID-19 vaccination are perpetuated.
 Factors associated with COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy generally mirror factors
known to influence vaccine hesitancy for other vaccines.
 Survey data reveal public hesitancy about COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness,
uncertainty regarding the protection duration, and apprehension about safety or
adverse effects.
 This emerging understanding of COVID-19 immunology and virology, 8-10
coupled with the unprecedented speed of vaccine development, threaten to
undermine public confidence.
Purpose of the Study

This study aims to identify the elements that influence people's resistance to the
government's immunization program and

Research Questions

1. What are the causes of people's resistance to vaccination?

2. How do the influencing factors affect their reluctance?
3. What obstacles do some people face and coping mechanisms do they employ to
survive while the COVID19 Pandemic was active without receiving a vaccination?

Research Design

This study will employ a qualitative method of inquiry. Design based on

qualitative phenomenology. The phenomenological approach aims to shed light on the
particular by identifying phenomena based on how the actors in a scenario perceive
them. This will enable the researcher to pinpoint and comprehend the causes of the
general public's resistance to the global immunization campaign.

Participants with Inclusion and Exclusion

 In this research, five (5) employed and five (5) unemployed unvaccinated
individuals that live in rural areas of the Davao region, specifically in Padada Davao
del Sur, will take part in a series of interview and share their thoughts about the
government's promotion of mass vaccination. This will make it possible for the
research to ascertain the reasons why people are reluctant to participate in the
COVID-19 immunization campaign.
The following criteria will be considered when selecting suitable respondents
for this study:
1. Private or government employees who initially refused the initial vaccination in
their respective barangays,
2. People who are unemployed (either student or adult individual)

Sources of Data

Key Informant Interview (K.I.I.) responses will be the primary data source.
The researcher will use open-ended questions during the semi-structured interview.
The interview will be recorded with the respondent's permission in order to
transcribing the responses later.

Ethical Considerations

This study will obtain written permission from the respondents as part of the
ethical considerations of the research itself, as this will gather their confidential
information. The researcher, on the other hand, will ensure the confidentiality of the
respondents' data. There is serious consideration should be given: informed consent,
anonymity, and confidentiality (Richard and Schwartz (2002). The privacy, the
respondents will entrust in me will be kept important as much as the purpose of this
research.

References
Cascini, F., Pantovic, A., Al-Ajlouni, Y., Failla, G., & Ricciardi, W. (2021). Attitudes,
acceptance and hesitancy among the general population worldwide to receive the
COVID-19 vaccines and their contributing factors: A systematic
review. EClinicalMedicine, 40, 101113.

Cooper, S., van Rooyen, H., & Wiysonge, C. S. (2021). COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy
in South Africa: how can we maximize uptake of COVID-19 vaccines?. Expert
Review of Vaccines, 20(8), 921-9-+33.

Machingaidze, S., Wiysonge, C.S. Understanding COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy. Nat

Med 27, 1338–1339 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41591-021-01459-7

Thunström, L., Ashworth, M., Finnoff, D., & Newbold, S. C. (2021). Hesitancy
toward a COVID-19 vaccine. Ecohealth, 18(1), 44-60.

Murphy, J., Vallières, F., Bentall, R. P., Shevlin, M., McBride, O., Hartman, T. K., ...
& Hyland, P. (2021). Psychological characteristics associated with COVID-19
vaccine hesitancy and resistance in Ireland and the United Kingdom. Nature
communications, 12(1), 1-15.

Saied, S. M., Saied, E. M., Kabbash, I. A., & Abdo, S. A. E. F. (2021). Vaccine
hesitancy: Beliefs and barriers associated with COVID ‐19 vaccination among
Egyptian medical students. Journal of medical virology, 93(7), 4280-4291.

Kricorian, K., Civen, R., & Equils, O. (2022). COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy:
Misinformation and perceptions of vaccine safety. Human Vaccines &
Immunotherapeutics, 18(1), 1950504.

Khan, Y. H., Mallhi, T. H., Alotaibi, N. H., Alzarea, A. I., Alanazi, A. S., Tanveer,
N., & Hashmi, F. K. (2020). Threat of COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy in Pakistan: the
need for measures to neutralize misleading narratives. The American journal of
tropical medicine and hygiene, 103(2), 603.

Fridman, A., Gershon, R., & Gneezy, A. (2021). COVID-19 and vaccine hesitancy: A
longitudinal study. PloS one, 16(4), e0250123.

Machado, M. D. A. V., Roberts, B., Wong, B. L. H., van Kessel, R., & Mossialos, E.
(2021). The relationship between the COVID-19 pandemic and vaccine hesitancy: a
scoping review of literature until August 2021. Frontiers in public health, 9.

Solís Arce, J. S., Warren, S. S., Meriggi, N. F., Scacco, A., McMurry, N., Voors,
M., ... & Omer, S. B. (2021). COVID-19 vaccine acceptance and hesitancy in low-and
middle-income countries. Nature medicine, 27(8), 1385-1394.

Dror, A. A., Eisenbach, N., Taiber, S., Morozov, N. G., Mizrachi, M., Zigron, A., ...
& Sela, E. (2020). Vaccine hesitancy: the next challenge in the fight against COVID-
19. European journal of epidemiology, 35(8), 775-779.

Regime of Marcos Jr.: The ascent of the So-Called Dictators' Son

Rationale of the study

The 17th Philippine president was elected on May 9 by the entire Philippine
population. Ferdinand "Bong Bong" Marcos, who succeeded former President
Rodrigo Duterte, was voted as the nation's leader in a decision made by a majority of
voters. The nation's sympathies were divided despite the election results being
obvious and Bong Bong Marcos being declared the victor because he is the son of the
late former president Ferdinand Marcos Sr., who was dubbed the Dictator. The late
Ferdinand Marcos, father of Marcos Jr., ruled the Philippines from 1965 for 21 years.
After establishing military power over the country in 1972, he abolished term
limits. The return of the Marcos family to Malacañang Palace is shocking, but not
surprising.
Marcos Jr. was the only candidate who appeared to be almost identical to the
incumbent populist pro-China President Rodrigo Duterte. In some media interviews,
Marcos Jr. has expressed his views on the South China Sea, suggesting that the 2016
ruling be set aside and more engagement with China be pursued. People assumed that
because Marcos Jr. allied with Rodrigo Duterte's daughter Sara Duterte, he would
likely continue Duterte's policy of appeasement to China. Marcos Jr. has expressed
his position on the South China Sea in some media interviews and has suggested
setting aside the 2016 ruling and engaging more with China. Marcos Jr. once
described people at the Chinese embassy in Manila as his friends in a media
interview. Furthermore, Marcos Jr. has argued that maintaining a close defense
cooperation relationship with the US will dissatisfy China and harm the Philippines.
This demonstrates Marcos' China-friendly stance.
Analysts believe the Marcos family's revival is fueled in part by public outrage
over persistent poverty and inequality, as well as a lack of political reforms under
administrations that followed the People Power revolution. In one of the interviews
from the Al Jazeera English episode, a Filipino citizen was interviewed and asked
about his thoughts on Ferdinand Marcos Jr.'s presidential candidacy. He said, “it is
fine if Marcos Jr. chooses to follow in his father's footsteps seeing as his father,
Ferdinand Marcos Sr., also built and accomplished many things while he was in the
position before.” It is in Bong Bong Marcos’s plan to restore the achievements his
father made. Furthermore, A 27-year-old male resident of Manila who claims to be a
follower of Marcos' social media pages said he voted for Marcos. "His father did
many infrastructure projects, and I expect him to do the same if he wins," he told
Nikkei after casting his vote. "Like father, like son."
Bongbong successfully positioned himself as an anti-populist with his oft-
repeated message of unity, which instilled hope in a public desperate for a recovery
from a crippling pandemic. Bongbong’s support significantly increased across all sub-
national areas, but the largest increase was in the major island that is regarded as
Duterte country — Mindanao. Bongbong's partnership with Sara proved extremely
beneficial, as he was able to retain such levels of backing in Mindanao until election
day, and even in the Bisayan-speaking Central Visayas region, where the Duterte
name continues to draw substantial support. Citizens are thrilled to see how the
Duterte-Marcos tandem will work if they win the election.
While the previous administration focused on enforcement, Marcos stated that
the focus of his administration's anti-drug campaign will be on drug abuse
prevention and education, as well as the improvement of rehabilitation centers. It can
be concluded that those who supported the Marcos-Duterte partnership were the ones
who were pleased with how their father and other family members had served
previously.

Main Statement of the Problem

This research seeks to investigate and analyze the factors affecting the choice
of the 31 million Filipino people in voting Ferdinand "Bong Bong" Marcos Jr. as the
17th President of the Philippines despite their family's long history.

Specific or Sub-Problems

With the recent event, and having Bong Bong Marcos elected by more than 30
million Filipino people, this research explicitly seeks to answer the following
questions:
1. What is the public's level of awareness when it comes to selecting the right
Presidential candidate?
2. What is the public’s common opinion in voting for Bong Bong Marcos as
president?
 3. What is the public's level of anticipation following the inauguration of
Marcos Jr. as the 17th President of the Philippines?

Research Design

This is a quantitative study that employs a descriptive design via survey.

Quantitative methods emphasize objective measurements and the statistical,
mathematical, or numerical analysis of data collected through polls, questionnaires,
and surveys, or by manipulating preexisting statistical data using computational
techniques. And on the other hand, descriptive research involves gathering data that
describe events and then organizes, tabulates, depicts, and describes the data
collection (Glass & Hopkins, 1984). Descriptive study is “concerned not only with the
characteristics of individuals but with the characteristics of the whole sample thereof.
It provides information useful to the solutions of local issues (problems)” (Salaria,
2012).

Sampling

The researcher will utilize the Stratified Random sampling, wherein she will
group the respondents according to their age, sex and educational background. The
advantages are- it assures representation of all groups in the population needed. The
characteristics of each stratum can be estimated and comparisons can be made. It also
reduces variability from systematic sampling. The limitations are that it requires
accurate information on proportions of each stratum; also stratified lists are expensive
to prepare (Ancharya, Saxena, Nigam & Prakash, 2013).

Data/Statistical Analysis

This study will utilize T-test and ANOVA in analyzing its gathered data
References

Smith, T. (2021). ‘Bongbong’Marcos, son of reviled dictator Ferdinand, runs in what

could be a race of two dynasties in 2022 election.

Oxford Analytica. (2020). Presidential handover in Philippines would be

messy. Emerald Expert Briefings, (oxan-db).

McCargo, D. (2016). Duterte's mediated populism. Contemporary Southeast Asia: A

Journal of International and Strategic Affairs, 38(2), 185-190.

Sierra, R. A. R. (2022). OF CHOICES AND WILL: INFLUENCE OF MEDIA AND

HISTORICAL LINKAGE AS A VOTING REFERENCE IN THE PHILIPPINE
ELECTION 2022 (Doctoral dissertation, De La Salle University).

Smith, T. (2022). Philippines: the challenges ahead for the new president Marcos.

Estrañero, J. (2022). Marcos-Duterte Tandem and The Political Dynamics of Winning

2022 Election. Available at SSRN 4116950.

Sykes, T. (2022). The past is disappearing and the future is bleak.