Behavioural Responses to COVID Measures

Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, we have been working with the Department of Health on a range of projects concerning attitudes and behavioural responses to COVID restrictions and disease prevention measures.

We have tested posters to encourage social distancing (paper), flow diagrams to aid self-isolation decisions (paper), assessed attitudes about risky behaviours (paper) and the test and trace system (paper), tested the COVID tracker app (paper), assessed expectations of the lifting of restrictions (paper) and attitudes towards the COVID-19 vaccine (paper).

In January 2021 we began running the Social Activity Measure (SAM) in collaboration with the Department of the Taoiseach. SAM was a behavioural study that recorded the public response to the risk of COVID-19 infection. Data from a nationally representative sample of 1,000 adults were collected every two weeks, with reports published regularly here. SAM ceased running in 2022 after 36 iterations. A summary report will be available in January 2023.