Information challenges in post-COVID Japan

Research Project

Project/Area Number	22K13552
Research Category	Grant-in-Aid for Early-Career Scientists
Allocation Type	Multi-year Fund
Review Section	Basic Section 08010:Sociology-related
Research Institution	Tsuda University
Principal Investigator	CHENG JOHN・WILLIAM 津田塾大学, 学芸学部, 准教授 (70756254)
Project Period (FY)	2022-04-01 – 2025-03-31
Project Status	Granted (Fiscal Year 2022)
Budget Amount *help	¥3,250,000 (Direct Cost: ¥2,500,000、Indirect Cost: ¥750,000) Fiscal Year 2024: ¥390,000 (Direct Cost: ¥300,000、Indirect Cost: ¥90,000) Fiscal Year 2023: ¥1,560,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,200,000、Indirect Cost: ¥360,000) Fiscal Year 2022: ¥1,300,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,000,000、Indirect Cost: ¥300,000)
Keywords	conspiracy theory / conspiracy mentality / echo chamber / health literacy / anti-vaccine / media affordance / populism / fake news / Digital health literacy / Conspiracy theories / Misinformation / Post-COVID / Information challenges
Outline of Research at the Start	The purpose of this is research project is to quantify, analyse, and then propose solutions to 2 interrelated information challenges in post-COVID Japan based on social psychology and media studies: (1) The prevalence of conspiracy theories. (2) Deficiency and disparity in digital health literacy.
Outline of Annual Research Achievements	Most of the objectives of FY2022 were completed. First, the literature review and research design phases were completed. Parts of the research design were pre-registered on the Open Science Framework (osf.io). Second, I completed the first round of data collection by conducting a questionnaire survey in March 2023. Third, I presented the concept of one of the studies of the project at the 46th JSICR conference in Jun 2022.
Current Status of Research Progress	Current Status of Research Progress 2: Research has progressed on the whole more than it was originally planned. Reason The project has been progressing mostly according to plan.
Strategy for Future Research Activity	In the FY2023, I will focus on analysing the data. I have planned to present the findings at three academic conferences, including the Asian Online Political Science Seminar Series (online, July 2023), the ISA Asia-Pacific Conference (Tokyo, August 2023), and the 16th Asia-Pacific ITS Conference (Bangkok, November 2023). The findings will be submitted to at least one academic journal for publication. And I will also carry out the second round of data collection.