3.4 METHODOLOGY DESCRIPTION

Figure 12. Methodological steps

3.4 METHODOLOGY DESCRIPTION

3.4.1 AN OVERVIEW

The present study had as its initial problem the development of a collaborative mapping

from an online survey, addressing issues with a quantitative and qualitative focus, related

to COVID-19 within a GIS context, something that was not observed in the initial months of

the pandemic. Thus, it is possible to interpret certain impacts related to the pandemic

beyond the advance of the number of cases and deaths related to COVID-19 in space and

time.

A first version of the mapping was carried out without defining a specific study area, testing

the tool’s functionality, and collecting feedback from respondents, having been

disseminated on the main social media platforms, such as WhatsApp, LinkedIn, Instagram,

and Facebook.

3.4.2 ONLINE SURVEY ELABORATION

The primary data used in this research were obtained through independent and

collaborative mapping. The steps in obtaining these data are described below.

As aforementioned, several platforms were monitoring the evolution of the pandemic in

space and time as soon as the WHO declared it. However, there was no follow-up research

focused on the impacts to people's daily lives. In this context, an online survey was

developed on Survey123 Connect for ArcGIS, with questions structured in different possible

answer formats, such as single choice or multiple-choice answers. An inserted question

asked for the interviewee's location, which then generated a coordinate (x, y).

For later integration with a Dashboard for ArcGIS, a decision was made to develop the

questionnaire in XLSForm, as explained in item 2.6.1, because it is a more sophisticated

way to develop the questionnaire in Survey123. The main question that guided the

questionnaire was: "How has COVID-19 affected you?", followed by the questions

elaborated in XLSForm. Thus, some questions were asked about how the pandemic was

affecting people's lives. In Figure 13a below, it is possible to view the survey creation

environment in Survey123 Connect, as well as the XLSForm in which the questions were

developed (Figure 13b).

(a)

(b)

Figure 13. Survey123 Connect (a) and XLSForm (b)

The questionnaire was incorporated in a link into a Story Map, which provided some

information about the pandemic (Silva, 2020a). The WHO dashboard related to the

pandemic was embedded in the Story Map as a source of information about cases and

deaths of COVID-19 worldwide.

Figure 14. Story Map which brings the survey

At the end of the Story Map, a dashboard was presented, and it was being fed by the

answered questionnaires in real-time. As previously mentioned, to be able to integrate the

dashboard with the survey data, it was necessary to develop it in XLSForm, as two questions

were multiple-choice, in which the interviewee could answer more than one option. Thus,

if the questionnaire was created in Survey123 using the web designer, these fields would

become text fields (esriFieldTypeString), making integration with the dashboard impossible

without manipulating the data. Thus, in order not to require manual data update, the

XLSForm was created. The dashboard created (Figure 15) addressed the questions inserted

in the questionnaire, and the variables had filters between them, which could make the

visualization more interesting for those who were manipulating the data.

The management of data obtained in the survey, story map, and the dashboard was carried

out in ArcGIS Online.

Figure 15. Real-time dashboard

As explained, the first round of the survey did not have a specific area of interest and was

disclosed through social media. With the first data obtained, the initiative was described in

an article published on a geotechnology portal (Silva, 2020b).

From the beginning, the research was open to contributions. Thus, after the first round and

disclosure, feedback was given by them to improve some questions. There was also

reinforcement in the dissemination part through a research group from Veiga de Almeida

University (UVA), members of the Geospatial Studies Laboratory (LEGO) in Rio de Janeiro.

In this way, after some specific research adjustments, a new round was made, focusing on

data collection in Rio de Janeiro. The research was then applied between April 07 and May

11, 2020. The 15 questions asked and the types of each question are shown in Figure 16

below. All questions were mandatory.

How has COVID-19 affected you?

(The objective of this survey is to map how the coronavirus has affected people's lives, what are the impacts and the needs that the population has felt) How old are you? Up to 25 years Between 25 - 35 years Between 45 - 60 years More than 60 years

Between 35 - 45 years Gender? Female I prefer not to inform

Male How many people with whom you have had personal contact have contracted the coronavirus (including you)? These may be unconfirmed suspected cases I didn't get the disease and I don't know anyone who got it Two people

One person Three or more people Are there deaths related to the disease in your personal circle? These may be unconfirmed suspected cases There are not Yes, two people

Yes, one person Do you find yourself in quarantine (it may be self-isolation)? Yes No

If so, since when? What is your main source of income? Salaried with stability Salaried without stability Self-employed Informal worker Retired Unemployed

Entrepreneur What is your average family income bracket? I don't have income Up to 1 minimum wage 5 to 10 minimum wages More than 10 minimum wages

1 to 5 minimum wages Did the consequences of the pandemic impact you financially? If so, how much? No Up to 1 minimum wage 5 to 10 minimum wages More than 10 minimum wages

1 to 5 minimum wages Do you contribute financially to services you used before the pandemic that you are no longer using? Domestic services (cleaning, gardening, others), gym, schools, therapies, etc. Yes No Have you been looking to consume from local merchants? Yes No Would you say the pandemic has put you in a delicate financial position? Yes No From the following items, select the ones which were hampered after the onset of the disease. Health Care Financial resources Physical activities Recreation

Food Transport Assistance from Other People (family members, employees) Academic/School Activities Labor Activity

Other

Hygiene Items None What have you been feeling after the disease started? Anxiety Sadness

Depression Loneliness Fear Other

Concern

Anguish

What is your location? Figure 16. Survey’s questions.

None

Type

Single choice from drop-down list

Single choice

Single choice

Single choice

Single choice

Date

Single choice

Single choice

Single choice

Single choice

Single choice

Single choice

Multiple-choice

Multiple-choice

Map

3.4.3 TREATMENT OF DATA OBTAINED

The primary data obtained in the online survey are already spatialized. However, it is

necessary to verify the data obtained both exclusively in the municipality of Rio de Janeiro

and in the period of interest between April 7 and May 11, 2020. It is essential to clarify that,

from the beginning, it was not intended to constitute a representative sample of the city

of Rio de Janeiro nor to impose a geographical limitation, which results in this first analysis

and filtering of the data obtained.

These data will be segmented according to the geographic division of the city's planning

areas, which is information provided by the city hall of Rio de Janeiro. Thus, some analyzes

and mappings will be carried out with the results obtained in the research.

Besides, it is necessary to add some demographic and socioeconomic data to this

segmentation (Urban & Nakada, 2020) and the official data related to COVID-19 to verify

the adherence between the data obtained in the mapping and the variables related to

these data observed in reality. For this analysis, mapping and a scatterplot matrix will be

built in ArcGIS Pro in order to evaluate the relationships between variables.

As previously explained, the data used with the demographic information of the Rio de

Janeiro population will be obtained on the geospatial basis of the 16 planning regions of

the city that were geoenriched with data from 2018.

Finally, some qualitative questions in the questionnaire are not addressed by official data

related to the pandemic and in another GIS visualization. Thus, this information can be

verified through the interest of people over time, observed in the search for certain

subjects on Google, via Google Trends (Biasi, 2020), seeking the gradual evolution of words

related to mental health after the arrival of the pandemic. For example, it can be a way to

assess which feelings were arisen in the population due to COVID-19.