Introduction
Most findings acquired from data analyses were consistent with the current body of knowledge. First, the demographic variables, including age, gender, nationality, and education level, had no significant impact on attitudes toward EHTERAZ. The literature review demonstrated that the majority of previously created regression models showed no significant influence of demographic variables on attitudes toward contact tracing applications and automated data collection (Bengio et al., 2021; Hassandoust et al., 2021; Williams et al., 2020). Moreover, the thematic analysis of the qualitative data revealed no mentions that demographics can affect attitudes toward contact tracing. However, Sharma et al. (2021) showed that income level, age, and gender were all significant determinants of contact tracing application adoption. Thus, it can be stated that age, gender, education level, and nationality do not affect Qatar residents’ attitudes toward EHTERAZ, which is a significant contribution to the current body of knowledge.
Second, the quantitative data analysis revealed that the quality of the application had a significant impact on the attitudes toward it. The analysis also demonstrated that the perceived quality of the application was closely correlated with the level of trust in the application, uptake level, and privacy concerns, which was also consistent with the current body of knowledge (Hassandoust et al., 2021; Jansen-Kosterink et al., 2020; Kim & Paul, 2020). The qualitative results revealed that the current quality of the application might be concerning, as the application uses Bluetooth technology, which can be easily compromised (CISA, 2019). Additionally, the application sends the data itself, implying that the information is sent only when the application is in use. These characteristics decrease the effectiveness of the application. In summary, technological features demonstrate that the quality of the application may be concerning for the users.
Third, the quantitative data analysis revealed that privacy concerns have a strong impact on attitudes toward contact tracing. Additionally, the perceived privacy protection of EHTERAZ was found very closely correlated with the level of trust in the developer. This was consistent with previous research findings, which showed that increased trust in the developer and the national healthcare system was associated with a decreased level of privacy concerns (Guillon & Kergall, 2020; O’Callaghan et al., 2020; Saurabh & Prateek, 2017). Higher levels of perceived privacy protection were also associated with improved attitudes toward contact tracing (Hassandoust et al., 2021; Jansen-Kosterink et al., 2020; O’Callaghan et al., 2020; Tessier et al., 2021). However, the analysis of interviews found no mentions of privacy concerns being an essential factor affecting the public’s attitudes toward EHTERAZ. Thus, a significant perception gap between the public and the government was found. On the one hand, the public believes that privacy concerns have a strong influence on attitude towards EHTERAZ. On the other hand, MOI does not see that privacy concerns can affect the attitude towards the application.
Fourth, trust was found to be a significant predictor of attitudes toward EHTERAZ, which was consistent with the current body of literature (Appleby‐Arnold et al., 2019; Guillon & Kergall, 2020; O’Callaghan et al., 2020; Saurabh & Prateek, 2017). The focus group also confirmed this statement, as government officials stated that many people did not trust new technology at first. As time passed, the level of trust in the developer increased, which improved the attitudes toward the application and uptake level. The correlation analysis demonstrated that there was, indeed, a close correlation between uptake, trust, and attitudes. This implies that there were no perception gaps in terms of understanding the importance of trust for attitudes toward EHTERAZ and uptake level.
Fifth, the uptake level was also found to be a significant determinant of people’s attitudes toward EHTERAZ, which was consistent with the previous findings concerning other contact tracing applications (Guillon & Kergall, 2020; Jansen-Kosterink et al., 2020; Sharma et al., 2021). However, there was no mention of the uptake level influencing people’s attitudes toward EHTERAZ in the qualitative analysis. Instead, the focus group mentioned that improved attitudes toward contact tracing could increase the uptake level. These findings demonstrate that there may be a perception gap between the public and the government concerning how uptake level affects people’s attitudes toward contact tracing. Additionally, the findings suggest that there may be a two-way correlation between the uptake level and attitudes toward EHTERAZ, which was indirectly confirmed by a high correlation coefficient (Pearson’s R = 0.689).
Finally, the quantitative analysis revealed a peculiar correlation between attitudes and awareness about EHTERAZ, which was inconsistent with the current body of knowledge and qualitative results. Previous research demonstrated that low awareness hurt attitudes toward contact tracing (Appleby‐Arnold et al., 2019; Hassandoust et al., 2021; Huang et al., 2021; Williams et al., 2020). The data gathered from the focus group also suggested that with increased awareness about EHTERAZ, Qatar residents had improved attitudes toward the application. The correlation coefficient between awareness and attitudes was also positive, supporting previous research and qualitative analysis. However, the regression model coefficient was negative, demonstrating that an increased level of awareness negatively affected the attitudes toward the application.
The reason for the such inconsistency of findings may be in assumptions associated with correlations. The relationship between attitudes and awareness may be non-linear, making the regression model and the correlation analysis biased. A close examination of qualitative data gives additional insights into the correlations between the two variables. The interview with a network security expert from MOI showed that the use of Bluetooth technology negatively affected privacy protection. Simultaneously, the program was very accurate in measuring proximity (Zhao et al., 2020). Thus, people’s attitudes toward the application may have differed depending on the information they received. Therefore, the research results suggested that awareness is not always positively correlated with attitudes toward contact tracing applications, which is a significant contribution to the current body of knowledge.
Benefits of Controlling COVID-19
The results of the present paper concerning the perceived benefits of EHTERAZ were consistent with the current body of knowledge. In particular, timely notification, generation of valuable data for planning, effectiveness, automatic data collection, precision, and alternative to lockdown were all found to be crucial benefits of the contact tracing application (Veale, 2020; Braithwaite et al., 2020; Guillon & Kergall, 2020; Kim & Paul, 2020; Williams et al., 2020). The qualitative data also revealed that the central benefits for users were: knowing their health status, knowing if the person contacted an infected individual, and knowing if a person received the vaccination. While the findings of the qualitative and quantitative analysis were different, they do not indicate that there is a perception gap between the government authorities and the public. The focus group discussion was not guided, which implied that the researcher could not ask the government’s opinion concerning other perceived benefits of the application. Therefore, the findings of the qualitative analysis add to the quantitative results.
Barriers and Drivers of EHTERAZ Adoption
The analysis of quantitative data concluded that lack of knowledge about contact tracing, lack of knowledge about the program’s technical characteristics, lack of information about gathered data, privacy concerns, and uptake level are significant barriers toward wide adoption of EHTERAZ, which was consistent with the literature review (Appleby-Arnold et al., 2019; O’Callaghan et al., 2020; Saurabh & Prateek, 2017; Guillon & Kergall, 2020; Jansen-Kosterink et al., 2020; Sharma et al., 2021; Zhao et al., 2020). Additionally, trust in Qatar’s government and the effectiveness of the application were found to be significant drivers of EHTERAZ’s adoption, which was also consistent with the current body of knowledge (Appleby‐Arnold et al., 2019; Guillon & Kergall, 2020; O’Callaghan et al., 2020; Saurabh & Prateek, 2017). At the same time, MOI claimed that there were no significant barriers to the adoption of EHTERAZ. The only problem was that people tried to abuse the application, which was not found to be a significant barrier. Thus, the analysis of the perceived benefits of the application revealed a perception gap between the public and government authorities from MOI.
Significance
The research results provided significant insights concerning the public and government authorities’ perception of contact tracing applications. First, the paper contributed to the current body of knowledge by studying Qatar’s population. While the literature review demonstrated that contact tracing was a topic of increased interest among scholars, the public’s perception of contact tracing applications had not yet been studied in Qatar. This study included a discussion of different aspects of contact tracing applications, including factors affecting attitudes toward EHTERAZ, barriers and drivers of the application’s adoption, and perceived benefits of the application. Thus, this research provides valuable knowledge on the topic from different angles.
Second, the study revealed a perception gap concerning EHTERAZ between the public and government officials. In particular, the MOI does not see privacy issues as a problem that may affect the attitudes toward the application. The network security expert from MOI expressed concern about using Bluetooth, as it is easily compromised. However, MOI did not see privacy threats as affecting attitudes toward EHTERAZ. Additionally, the perception gap included understanding the correlation between the uptake level and attitudes toward EHTERAZ. Government officials may lack the understanding that there is a two-way correlation between the variables. Similarly, MOI did not acknowledge that there are at least five barriers to the adoption of EHTERAZ in Qatar.
Finally, this study found a controversial correlation between attitudes toward EHTERAZ and awareness about the program. The quantitative findings contradicted the qualitative analysis and the current body of knowledge, which may demonstrate that there is a non-linear correlation between the two variables. Future research may focus on a more in-depth analysis of this correlation to resolve the controversy.
Limitations
Before translating the findings of the present research into actionable recommendations, it is crucial to assess the study’s limitations. First, the results of the study are limited by the characteristics of the sample. The population under analysis was Qatar residents, including citizens and non-citizens. Therefore, research findings are applicable only to the country’s residents, which do not include people outside the country, even if they are Qatar citizens. Additionally, the participants of the survey were predominantly male (76.2%), which demonstrates that the study may have failed to represent the attitudes of females toward EHTERAZ.
Second, the response rate may be a significant issue affecting the reliability of findings. According to Dillman (2000), researchers should aim at having a 60% response rate in internet and mail surveys. The response level of the quantitative part of the present research was 45%, which may be associated with biases. Failure to follow this recommendation may lead to biases associated with selective non-response (Meiklejohn et al., 2012). For instance, heavy smokers often try to avoid smoking surveys out of embarrassment, which may lead to biased results of smoke consumption surveys. In the case of the present research, people who had an insufficient understanding of EHTERAZ or had a generally unfavorable attitude toward it may have decided to avoid completing the survey leading to biased estimations. Thus, when translating the findings of this research to recommendations, one should remember the possibility of incorrect estimates due to biased data.
Third, the findings of the qualitative analysis were based on rather vague and short responses from MOI. Even though several interviews with government authorities were planned, the Ministry of Public Health denied the request to disclose information about EHTERAZ for privacy reasons. MOI provided several concise responses for interview questions without the ability to ask clarification questions. In general, the acquired qualitative data was limited, which may have influenced the results of the qualitative analysis. Thus, findings from the qualitative analysis should be used with caution.
Finally, the regression model’s predictive ability estimates the factors affecting Qatar residents’ attitudes toward EHTERAZ. The literature review revealed that there were other known factors that may affect this attitude, including perceived benefits and stigma (Williams et al., 2020). There may also be other predictors that are not yet known. Even though the regression model’s goodness of fit coefficient was high (R2 = 66.3%), it does not provide near-perfect predictions for the dependent variable. Thus, when translating the study findings to practice, it is crucial to consider the limitations of the regression model.
Conclusion
Contact tracing is a crucial instrument that has been used to help control epidemics around the world for more than a century. Modern technology improved the efficiency of contact tracing by upgrading data collection methods from traditional paper-and-pencil approaches to automated data collection using Bluetooth and GPS. The literature review and analysis provided in this study revealed that even though there are some barriers to the adoption of innovative contact tracing technologies, both the public and the government view automated contact tracing as a crucial measure for addressing the COVID-19 pandemic.
The analysis of the public perception of EHTERAZ revealed that the attitudes toward the application depend on several factors. In particular, adoption level, privacy protection, application quality, awareness about the program, and trust in the developer were found to be its significant predictors. Simultaneously, this study revealed that demographic variables, including age, gender, nationality, and education level, had no significant impact on attitudes. The relationship between attitudes toward EHTERAZ and awareness was controversial, as the quantitative findings contradicted the existing knowledge and qualitative findings.
The public and the government viewed EHTERAZ as a beneficial application that helps to control the pandemic in Qatar. The benefits include timely notification, generation of valuable data for planning, effectiveness, automatic data collection, precision, an alternative to lockdown, and awareness about the possibility of being infected. A perception gap concerning the benefits of the application between the government and the public was not found.
The public opinion concerning the barriers and drivers of EHTERAZ adoption differed from the perception of the government authorities. In particular, MOI did not see any significant barriers to the adoption of the application, while quantitative data analysis revealed that there were at least five significant barriers. The perception gap may be another reason for decreased adoption of EHTERAZ in Qatar. Closing this perception gap may be crucial for controlling future pandemics.