Survey on Life After COVID-19 Crisis

An online survey on life after COVID-19 was conducted by me recently. The survey form was circulated through various WhatsApp groups which comprised a vast diversity of participants across different age groups, which included students, doctors, engineers, teachers, homemakers, public servants, private professionals, lawyers, media persons, retired persons, businessmen, NRIs and many more.

Responses of 738  people in total have been analysed. 

Questioned asked in the survey can be accessed at Effects of COVID-19 

Analysis of the survey :

1. Socializing Habbits-

• Across all the age groups majority of respondents think that their socializing habits will change after the crisis. 
• In age groups 30-45 and  > 60 this change is more prominent.
• This change may be attributed to the the fact that this virus spreads rapidly due to close proximity in physical terms among humans.

2. Eating Habits -

• Across all the age groups majority of respondents think that their eating habits will change after the crisis. 
• This change may be attributed to the the fact that during lockdown  people inculcated the habit of eating home-made food.
• In age groups 30-45 and  < 20  this change is more prominent.
• The reason could be that in these two age groups eating outside food is more popular due to choice or need (as they study or work away from home and families).

3. Cooking Habits-

• Across <20, 20-30 and 30-45 age groups, majority of respondents think that their cooking habits will change after the crisis. 
• This change may be attributed to the the fact that during lockdown people who lived away from home (family)  inculcated the habit of cooking. Also children and male members of the family have learned cooking during the lockdown.
• In age groups 45-60  and  > 60  majority responded that their cooking habits would not change.

4. Daily Commuting Habits-

• Across all the age groups majority of respondents think that their daily commuting habits will change after the crisis. 
• In age groups 30-45 and  > 60 this change is more prominent.
• This change may be attributed to the the fact that this virus spreads rapidly due to close proximity in physical terms among humans hence it might be possible people would prefer own transport in place of public transport.
• Govt would need to change the form of public transport so as to encourage use of public transport else it would lead to increase in vehicular traffic on roads which are already overcrowded and would in turn would lead to increase in air and noise pollution.

5. Holidaying Activities-

• Across all the age groups majority of respondents think that their holidaying activities will change after the crisis. 
• In age groups 30-45 and  45- 60 this change is more prominent.
• This change may be attributed to the the fact that there have been hotspots of this virus in various tourists destinations both within and outside the country. The fear of spread of infection from these hotspots might have led to the change in their future choice.

6. Shopping Habits-

• Across all the age groups majority of respondents think that their shopping habits will change after the crisis. 
• In age groups < 20 ,30-45 and  45- 60 this change is more prominent.
• This change may be attributed to the the fact that this virus spreads rapidly due to close proximity in physical terms among humans so people might prefer online mode of shopping.
• Offline shopping stores need to reorient their space taking into the norms of physical distancing into consideration.

7. Anxiety issues-

• Across  the age groups < 20, 20-30 and >60 majority of respondents did not experience anxiety during this crisis. 
• In age groups 30-45 and  45-60  majority of respondents did experience some anxiety during this crisis.
• This change may be attributed to the the fact that age group 30-45 and 45-60 have more responsibilities and thus think more of future while the age group < 20 has lesser responsibilities and age group > 60 have already completed most of their responsibilities.
• Almost same percentage of respondents are not sure about anxiety experienced by them across all age groups.

8. Environmental impact-

• Across all the age groups majority of respondents think that such crisis has a positive impact on environment. 
• Due to lockdown all vehicular and industrial pollution was minimal which led to significant reduction in air pollution and thus visibility was increased and people saw clear sky after many years.
• Age group < 20 responded most strongly on this point indicating that environment is quite high in their priority list which is a good sign for the country.

9. Health Care Policy-

• Across all the age groups majority of respondents very strongly think that governments would change their health care policies. 
• Present health care policies do not cater to such crisis and would surely need a major change for tackling such issues more effectively in future.

10. Impact on Individuals -

• Across all the age groups majority of respondents think that this crisis would bring a positive change in them. 
• In age groups 30-45 , 45-60 and  > 60 this change is more prominent.
• It shows that most of the respondents have taken this crisis in a constructive way.

11. Harm to Mankind-

• Across all the age groups majority of respondents think that this crisis has brought more harm to mankind in general. 
• In age groups  < 20 and  20-30 percentage of people who are not sure is more than other age groups.
• Looking into the extensive media coverage of this crisis and daily updation of figures related to death and rise in infection may be the attributed cause of this thought process of overall harm to mankind. On the contrary, majority of respondents in previous question responded that this crisis has brought a positive impact on environment and the individual human beings.

Summary of Analysis-

• Change in manner of living  of people attributed to fear of this crisis and life style modifications due to lockdown.
• People took this crisis in a positive way.
• People got more concerned about environmental issues.
• More stress on healthcare.

Limitations of this Survey-

• More parameters could have been captured like gender, public / private occupation, educational background, etc.
• Scored responses could have been asked for instead of Yes/No/Maybe.
• It is a generalized survey. No Statistical or Psychological tools have been used.
• It has been generally observed that people are not interested in responding to online surveys if the form uploaded is lengthy. Keeping this in mind, the survey form was kept shortest possible so that more people respond to it. 
• More elaborate surveys can be conducted on each sub sections.