The third step in a typical scientific research process, especially in studying the effects of COVID-19, would generally be "analyzing data."
Here’s a brief outline of how the steps typically proceed in research:
- Questioning - Identifying a specific research question or problem to study.
- Forming a hypothesis - Proposing an explanation or prediction based on the question.
- Analyzing data - Collecting and analyzing data to test the hypothesis.
So, in this context, the answer is "analyzing data."