Barrett, The Honors College Thesis/Creative Project Collection
Barrett, The Honors College at Arizona State University proudly showcases the work of undergraduate honors students by sharing this collection exclusively with the ASU community.
Barrett accepts high performing, academically engaged undergraduate students and works with them in collaboration with all of the other academic units at Arizona State University. All Barrett students complete a thesis or creative project which is an opportunity to explore an intellectual interest and produce an original piece of scholarly research. The thesis or creative project is supervised and defended in front of a faculty committee. Students are able to engage with professors who are nationally recognized in their fields and committed to working with honors students. Completing a Barrett thesis or creative project is an opportunity for undergraduate honors students to contribute to the ASU academic community in a meaningful way.
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- Creators: College of Health Solutions
Developing a vaccine during the midst of a pandemic requires a careful balance between <br/>speed, safety, and efficacy. For the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. implemented Operation Warp Speed to accelerate the timeline for vaccine development. The FDA also imposed specific guidelines for granting Emergency Use Authorization (EUA). As of April 1st, 2021, Operation Warp Speed resulted in three different vaccines receiving EUA, all of which are currently being administered to the public. However, the rapid production and changes in the approval process intensified public scrutiny on the safety and efficacy of the vaccine. This thesis analyzes the differences in fast-tracking a vaccine, which consolidated the authorization process into months rather than years, and delineates the main concerns of the public regarding the COVID-19 vaccine through a media analysis. Although the EUA raised questions about the safety of the vaccine, polls indicate that most Americans would still be willing to receive the vaccine.
This study aimed to see how social media influences parents’ decisions to have their child(ren) vaccinated against the yearly influenza season. The literature review outlined the risks of influenza for children, the use of social media, and influenza vaccination rates. A survey was conducted to assess parents’ frequency of social media use, the information they saw about influenza and its vaccine on social media, their concerns about the influenza vaccine, and how social media influenced their decision-making to vaccinate their child(ren) against this virus. Overall, the sample population did not believe that social media platforms influenced their decision to vaccinate their children for the seasonal influenza. However, the data was insufficient to provide meaningful conclusions on whether there was a significant association between social media use and its influence on parental decisions about the influenza vaccine. Furthermore, data about the poor reliability of health information on social media platforms and the importance of the influenza vaccine was found in this study. Limitations of the study included responses from individuals with advanced educational levels and a background in the health sciences. This may have resulted in a pro-vaccine bias that would affect the results. Lastly, due to the small sample size, we only report preliminary findings for this topic. Future research should be conducted using a large and diverse sample to study the association between the use of specific social media platforms and its influence on parental decisions for influenza vaccine uptake.