FEAR OF CORONAVIRUS AND AGE OF THE INHABITANTS OF THE BRCKO DISTRICT OF BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA - ANALYSIS OF INTERDEPENDENCE

Abstract

The paper investigates the differences between the age groups of the inhabitants of the Brcko District of BiH in terms of their fear of the new corona virus (COVID 19). The research was conducted in the period June-August 2020, on a sample of 160 respondents of different age groups. The sample included four age groups of subjects, while the fear of coronavirus was observed through four different modalities. It was found that there are differences among age groups in terms of fear of coronavirus, with, as expected, the elderly are most afraid, while young people are least afraid. On the other hand, unlike other age groups, mostly younger respondents are not afraid at all. Considering the observed differences, the Chi-square test of independence of the observed characteristics based on the analysis of the contingency table was applied. It was determined that there is an interdependence of respondents by age groups and fear of coronavirus, but the corresponding contingency coefficients show that it is not pronounced. Since a suitable (suitable or appropriate), non-random sample was used in the research, the stated results cannot be generalized to the total population, which means that they are valid only for the observed group of respondents.