This face mask compliance observational study attracted my attention because of its simplistic nature and reader-friendly presentation. I must thank Assistant Professor Susan Parham and Dr Matthew Hardy for publishing the study on The Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine website.
About the location
Researchers have chosen a small tourist city in Paris for this face mask compliance study. Their reason for choosing this place is because of its popularity among both tourists and the local population. Wearing face coverings became mandatory in this place by the time they conducted the observation.
Location selection
Professor Susan Parham and Dr Matthew Hardy have chosen their place for observation off the main street. They cite two reasons for the selection: 1) It was a busy place so they can count people and observe accurately to gather more information; 2) They expected people to behave more naturally due to less expectation of official surveillance of face covering.
The observation method
They observed the people for 30 minutes at lunchtime on two separate days at the same place: One weekday and one weekend day. On the first day, they observed adults and children and on the second day, they observed adult men and women separately.
| Day 1 | mask-wearing behaviour of male and female |
| Day 2 | mask-wearing behavior of male and female |
Data collection tool
What attracted me about their presentation of this study was that they pictured their actual data documentation tool as follows;
How they tabulated findings:
Data tabulations
I created two blank tables that mimic their actual tables. Those interested can read their actual data through the link I have cited at the end of this post.
Day 1 data tabulation table
| masked | unmasked | semi-masked | masked child | unmasked child | |
| total (273) | |||||
| % | |||||
| % of adults |
Data 2 data tabulation table
| masked male | masked female | unmasked male | unmasked male | semi-masked male | semi-asked female | |
| Total | ||||||
| %of all adults | ||||||
| % of each sex |
Findings
Day 1:
- Of the total of 272 adults observed, 82 per cent were adhering to face mask compliance as recommended.
- Of the rest who were not complying, 12.5 per cent were unmasked 8.5 per cent were semi-masked (mask-wearing under the nose).
Day 2:
- Of the 218 adults observed, 74.3 per cent were wearing masks with 26.7 per cent either unmasked (16 per cent) or semi-masked (9.7 per cent).
- Of them, 76.9 per cent of women and 71.3 per cent of men were wearing masks.
The authors of this face mask compliance observational study bring forward an interesting discussion about social norms conformity using the findings that were really critical in creating messages and social marketing campaigns.
Those interested can read the full paper through this link; https://www.cebm.net/2020/10/face-coverings-self-surveillance-and-social-conformity-in-a-time-of-covid-19/?unapproved=319632&moderation-hash=ea7fb58dd08238c803648b8afee163c2#comment-319632
