A hypothesis, or educated guess, is not exclusive to sociology. As the rates of infection from the pandemic increased, researchers in various fields made their own educated guesses as to why it was affecting some populations more than others. Questions about why it affects older people more than younger people and why children get milder symptoms became the talk of the scientific community and news outlets around the world. From a sociological perspective, attention focused on the rates of infection in the African-American and Hispanic communities. Hypotheses for the increased numbers of sick and dead in these groups ranged from higher population density, poorer quality healthcare, and having more essential workers on the front lines (Godoy 2020).