The UK Covid-19 Inquiry asked Alma Economics to analyse responses to a consultation on the draft Terms of Reference which set out the scope for the Inquiry.
Our team carried out segmentation analysis of the closed-ended questions to show how opinions varied between different demographic groups and regions of the UK. In addition, we used Alma Economics’ proprietary software to conduct thematic analysis of over 20,000 responses to open-ended free-text field questions, identifying key ideas and issues raised by respondents. Our software uses cutting-edge Natural Language Processing (NLP) machine learning techniques to power an integrated process of manual and automated text analysis.
The analysis received wide press coverage and provided an overview of the public’s most pressing concerns regarding the Inquiry’s scope, its priorities, and the ways in which it can ensure that people’s experiences can be heard. These findings helped inform the scope of the Covid-19 Inquiry and ensure that the public’s concerns were factored into the decision-making process regarding what the Inquiry should look into, what it should investigate first, and how it should engage with stakeholders.
Our report and the Inquiry’s Terms of Reference consultation summary report can all be found here.
Selected press coverage:
BBC: https://www.bbc.com/news/health-61423500
The Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/may/12/chair-of-uk-covid-inquiry-urges-johnson-to-broaden-its-scope
Evening Standard: https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/covid-inquiry-terms-of-reference-mental-health-young-people-inequality-b999630.html
