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Search Words That Matter

Mar 03-2020   



 

Caught off guard and stranded at home longer than expected, many people have been relying on online information to dispel their worries and concerns. That has become a research topic for Zhang Dandan, Assistant Professor of the NSD, and Liu Yaxuan, a dual-degree undergraduate student. They have turned to Baidu Index to uncover what people cared most about in the five weeks starting from January 17th. As browsing on Wechat and Sina Microblog is not included in Baidu Index, the research is intended to achieve only ‘partial truth’.

 

‘Pneumonia’ became the focal point on January 23rd, three days ahead of ‘epidemic’, a telling sign that the public’s knowledge of the epidemic came later. Search for ‘epidemic’ kept rising from late January but cooled down over time, only to shoot up again temporarily after February 12th when the tally method for newly confirmed cases was re-calibrated.

 

Following the January 20th comment by Zhong Nanshan, a leading expert at the forefront of epidemic fighting, that ‘wearing a mask works’, search for ‘mask’ spiked and peaked on January 23rd, and has since stayed at a stable level due to strong demand for masks, of which consumption far outstripped production.

 

After the Chinese New Year, ‘returning to work’ started trending and was more popular on Mondays than the rest of the week. It has garnered even more eyeballs since February 5th when overall situations brightened up.

 

The two researchers also find out that a region’s Baidu Index for the search word ‘epidemic’ was highly correlated to its number of newly confirmed cases and death toll. Online search was also affected by the situations in Wuhan and that particular region’s distance to Wuhan – a testament to the spillover effect of Wuhan and the need for nationwide concerted efforts in the war against the epidemic. On the other hand, ‘returning to work’ had an inverse correlation with local and Wuhan’s epidemic levels. First and second-tiered cities were more preoccupied with ‘returning to work’ than their third and fourth-tiered counterparts when the epidemic eased up.

 

Search Words That Matter

Mar 03-2020   



 

Caught off guard and stranded at home longer than expected, many people have been relying on online information to dispel their worries and concerns. That has become a research topic for Zhang Dandan, Assistant Professor of the NSD, and Liu Yaxuan, a dual-degree undergraduate student. They have turned to Baidu Index to uncover what people cared most about in the five weeks starting from January 17th. As browsing on Wechat and Sina Microblog is not included in Baidu Index, the research is intended to achieve only ‘partial truth’.

 

‘Pneumonia’ became the focal point on January 23rd, three days ahead of ‘epidemic’, a telling sign that the public’s knowledge of the epidemic came later. Search for ‘epidemic’ kept rising from late January but cooled down over time, only to shoot up again temporarily after February 12th when the tally method for newly confirmed cases was re-calibrated.

 

Following the January 20th comment by Zhong Nanshan, a leading expert at the forefront of epidemic fighting, that ‘wearing a mask works’, search for ‘mask’ spiked and peaked on January 23rd, and has since stayed at a stable level due to strong demand for masks, of which consumption far outstripped production.

 

After the Chinese New Year, ‘returning to work’ started trending and was more popular on Mondays than the rest of the week. It has garnered even more eyeballs since February 5th when overall situations brightened up.

 

The two researchers also find out that a region’s Baidu Index for the search word ‘epidemic’ was highly correlated to its number of newly confirmed cases and death toll. Online search was also affected by the situations in Wuhan and that particular region’s distance to Wuhan – a testament to the spillover effect of Wuhan and the need for nationwide concerted efforts in the war against the epidemic. On the other hand, ‘returning to work’ had an inverse correlation with local and Wuhan’s epidemic levels. First and second-tiered cities were more preoccupied with ‘returning to work’ than their third and fourth-tiered counterparts when the epidemic eased up.