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Fearing mRNA : A Mixed Methods Study of Vaccine Rumours

Hammarlin, Mia-Marie LU orcid ; Miegel, Fredrik LU ; Dimitrios, Kokkinakis and Stoencheva, Jullietta (2024) Nordmedia
Abstract
The first mass-distributed vaccines based on mRNA technology were launched in 2021 to protect against COVID-19, sparking rumours among vaccine critical individuals that these “new” vaccines might be more dangerous to the health than other, “traditional” vaccines. Drawing on rumour theories and social cognitive perspectives, the aim of this chapter is to account for the purpose and the spreading of medical rumours that encircle mRNA COVID-19 vaccines. We ask: How are rumours concerning mRNA expressed and established? In terms of trust and distrust, what function do the rumours have? We take as our empirical case the fast spreading of a medical journal article written by a group of infectious medicine researchers at Lund University, Sweden,... (More)
The first mass-distributed vaccines based on mRNA technology were launched in 2021 to protect against COVID-19, sparking rumours among vaccine critical individuals that these “new” vaccines might be more dangerous to the health than other, “traditional” vaccines. Drawing on rumour theories and social cognitive perspectives, the aim of this chapter is to account for the purpose and the spreading of medical rumours that encircle mRNA COVID-19 vaccines. We ask: How are rumours concerning mRNA expressed and established? In terms of trust and distrust, what function do the rumours have? We take as our empirical case the fast spreading of a medical journal article written by a group of infectious medicine researchers at Lund University, Sweden, that spawned an already established vaccine rumour, and analyse Swedish-language tweets discussing mRNA vaccines posted between February 10, 2022 and November 10, 2022. Our study follows a mixed methods sequential explanatory design consisting of an initial computational distant reading analysis based on structural topic modeling, followed by a close qualitative reading and thematic analysis of the results. Our analysis shows how mRNA rumours are not primarily based on ignorance, but rather on distrust regarding the officially sanctioned, positive narrative of new vaccine technologies, expressed through what we term counter-scientific argumentation. (Less)
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author
; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to conference
publication status
in press
subject
keywords
vaccine, COVID-19, mRNA, rumour, mixed methods
conference name
Nordmedia
conference location
Bergen, Norway
conference dates
2023-08-16 - 2023-08-18
project
Rumour Mining: Vaccination engagement on the internet
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
00c6e807-7cf2-49bd-b6b0-e374ce389e36
date added to LUP
2024-01-23 15:27:05
date last changed
2024-01-29 16:41:33
@misc{00c6e807-7cf2-49bd-b6b0-e374ce389e36,
  abstract     = {{The first mass-distributed vaccines based on mRNA technology were launched in 2021 to protect against COVID-19, sparking rumours among vaccine critical individuals that these “new” vaccines might be more dangerous to the health than other, “traditional” vaccines. Drawing on rumour theories and social cognitive perspectives, the aim of this chapter is to account for the purpose and the spreading of medical rumours that encircle mRNA COVID-19 vaccines. We ask: How are rumours concerning mRNA expressed and established? In terms of trust and distrust, what function do the rumours have? We take as our empirical case the fast spreading of a medical journal article written by a group of infectious medicine researchers at Lund University, Sweden, that spawned an already established vaccine rumour, and analyse Swedish-language tweets discussing mRNA vaccines posted between February 10, 2022 and November 10, 2022. Our study follows a mixed methods sequential explanatory design consisting of an initial computational distant reading analysis based on structural topic modeling, followed by a close qualitative reading and thematic analysis of the results. Our analysis shows how mRNA rumours are not primarily based on ignorance, but rather on distrust regarding the officially sanctioned, positive narrative of new vaccine technologies, expressed through what we term counter-scientific argumentation.}},
  author       = {{Hammarlin, Mia-Marie and Miegel, Fredrik and Dimitrios, Kokkinakis and Stoencheva, Jullietta}},
  keywords     = {{vaccine; COVID-19; mRNA; rumour; mixed methods}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{03}},
  title        = {{Fearing mRNA : A Mixed Methods Study of Vaccine Rumours}},
  year         = {{2024}},
}