Project Abstract

The project will combine quantitative data coming from open data, social media, and other sources, together with ad-hoc analysis, crowdsourcing, and gamification practices, to collect data and understand the perception of people about the present and future of the pandemic. It will look into the post-pandemic future, trying to understand how things are going to change and how people may react to different alternative policies and decisions at different levels.

Project Description & Overview

COVID-19 has affected our lives in unprecedented ways, in many personal, professional, and educational aspects. This impacted both our daily plans and logistics, as well as our perception of the world and of the future. A lot of data is available about COVID-19 impacts and many data-driven studies have been conducted for understanding the associated dynamics at the medical, logistic, and organizational levels. However, fewer studies concentrated on the perceptions, feelings, and emotions involved in these changes.

The project will combine quantitative data coming from open data, social media, and other sources, together with ad-hoc analysis, crowdsourcing, and gamification practices, to collect data and understand the perception of people about the present and future of the pandemic. It will look into the post-pandemic future, trying to understand how things are going to change and how people may react to different alternative policies and decisions at different levels. Possible perspectives to be explored include: educational opportunities, university life, city life and dynamics, professional life, family life, government decisions (mandates, regulations, lockdowns).

The study will be conducted in the cities of New York and Milano, both severely affected by COVID-19, both having lived long and painful lockdown periods, but both nowadays showing important signs of reactions, with a strong revival in social life, cultural events, and desire to return to normality. The project will highlight many aspects of similarity but also many aspects of diversity of the reaction to COVID-19 of the two cities.

Datasets

Dataset exploration and definition will be part of the project activities.

Competencies

Students should have basic data management skills and competence in social media data and crowdsourcing practices.

Learning Outcomes & Deliverables

The project will study methods, tools, and reports/analysis on the expectations, reactions and feelings of people with respect to the return to normal life after the pandemic.

Students

Yuyang Gao, Bing Hu, Xiya Ma, Hui Wang