Assignment MN1105j Written Report on COVID-19 Face Covering in Primary Schools

Background and Research Context

1 Assignment MN1105j Written report (1500 words), counting for 70% of the overall course mark This project requires you to use knowledge acquired through the course of MN1105j to recommend decisions to organizational managers. Please read and follow the instructions carefully. And avoiding copying and pasting too much of the content of this brief, you could be penalized! Also, pay special attention to the topics of cognitive biases (week one of your MN1105 course), data presentation (week 4), linear equations (week 4), exponential growth (week 5) and correlation/regression (week 8). And to working in Microsoft Excel for data analysis. Because of this and although the deadline for submission is the last week of term, the suggestion is to start your assignment as soon as possible. Read through, understand what is required, use the course material, what you learn in face-to-face and online sessions and be prepared to go over your work a few times. Tip: Gaining confidence and learning requires iteration (and often not going too much to the pub, binge video or social media consumption, etc.). Start small, build on it, continue. If in doubt, ask your tutors, but make sure that you are not just putting on our shoulders your responsibility to succeed. So here it goes... 2 Background and research context Among other precaution measures to reduce the risk of coronavirus (COVID-19) infection, the strong encouragement to wear a face covering is considered as very important, especially inside small rooms with weak ventilation. Combined with the suggestion to maintain a one or two-meter social distancing whenever possible, is considered as one of the key preventive measures one can follow. When it comes to primary schools, challenges increase. Countries and governments are learning from each other. The number of students required to sit in a classroom, the number of classrooms available for timetabling, as well as young student’s nature pose constraints not easy to overcome or manage. In countries like the UK, it could be said that primary school authorities are facing the dilemma, whether they will ask young children to formally wear masks in corridors, common areas and classrooms or not. In addition, if the decision is positive, many schools need to know whether a local face covering supplier or provider will be able to cope with the demand if face coverings are made compulsory for children aged 7-11. School officials could be aware of statistics publicly available by researchers and universities, many of which claim that evidence exists to support that the assertion that increased usage of a face covering (i.e. face masks) is positively associated to reduction of registered coronavirus cases in children of the above age in the school vicinities. Before they reach a decision though, some officials wish to perform some additional research in collaboration with a local university in Egham, Surrey. They want to study whether children wearing face masks shows some significant association to reduction of cases. The study is complex as many factors influence the fluctuation in the number of cases, however it was decided that a limited study focusing on school students aged as above and in the Egham vicinity could provide some insights towards an informed decision. School officials are aware that a possible cognitive bias that challenges their decision is that of seeing children wearing masks. The study Working at a national scale demands a thorough and costly research setting and influencing factors cannot be easily identified and eliminated. It was decided by school officials thus to focus on a smaller scale. The rationale for this is that primary school students attend schools