Recommendations for Further Research

Recommendations for Further Research

While the data did not definitely demonstrate how the premier’s messaging contributed to an Alberta Covid-19 infodemic, it did identify government messaging contributed to the expression of pandemic-related resistance views on social media, including the subsequently reduced rate of vaccinations among Albertans, and protests against non-pharmaceutical measures intended to limit the spread of Covid-19. Further research could identify the cause and effect more specifically and should include broader social media messaging perpetuated by misinformation and disinformation. Live surveys or interviews across a broad spectrum of Alberta’s population, and possibly using machine learning, would more expansively consider official government messaging, journalist inquiries, government responses to journalists, and the subsequent public reaction. Using algorithmic data investigation would also provide more substantive demographical data, including gender, race, age, and geographic location, and provide a more detailed cluster analysis of reactions to crisis communications and relevant reactionary behaviours. Such cluster analyses would enable a better understanding of the barriers to achieve successful compliance with public health measures. Given the limited amount of quantitative or qualitative research examining how the Alberta government’s crisis communications affected the pandemic’s case numbers, death, hospitalizations, and overall public health in Alberta, within the context of “What the heck is going on in Alberta? (Mansbridge, 2021), this research is a valuable contribution to the body of literature. Such contributions will enable future intervention effectiveness through a data-driven understanding of behavioural change-facilitation by communication.