The views of scientific experts on how the public conceptualize uncertainty
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 12598677 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Lynn J Frewer (0000-0002-6494-3492, Norwich Research Park, corresponding author), Lynn Frewer, Steve Hunt (Newcastle University), Mary Brennan (0000-0001-9964-7020), Sharron Kuznesof (0000-0001-8630-423X, Newcastle University), Mitchell Ness (Newcastle University), Chris Ritson (Newcastle University) |
| Year | 2003 |
| Volume | 6 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 75-85 |
| Publication date | 2003-01-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of Risk Research (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1366-9877 • E-ISSN: 1466-4461 |
| Publisher | Routledge (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/1366987032000047815 |
| OpenAlex | W2009734840 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 78 |
| References cited | 6 |
Scientific experts (drawn from scientific institutions, universities, industry, and government) were interviewed about how they thought the general public might handle information about uncertainty associated with risk analysis. It was found that, for many people within the scientific community, there was a widespread belief that the general public were unable to conceptualize uncertainties associated with risk management processes. Many scientists thought that providing the public with information about uncertainty would increase distrust in science and scientific institutions, as well as cause panic and confusion regarding the extent and impact of a particular hazard. It was concluded that scientists still appear to be subscribing to the deficit model of science communication, and it is vital that effective mechanisms for communicating about risk uncertainty with the public must be developed as a matter of urgency, particularly as increased transparency in risk management processes means that scientific uncertainties associated with risk analysis become more likely to be the subject of public scrutiny and debate
Business · Distrust · Epistemology · Government (linguistics · Hazard · Philosophy of science · Political science · Public relations · Public trust · Risk management · Science communication · Science education · Scrutiny · Transparency (behavior · Uncertainty · Climate Change Communication and Perception · Law · Risk Perception and Management
Discursos expertos sobre el cambio climático en España
The public and effective risk communication
Uncertainty, scepticism and attitudes towards climate change
Public preferences for informed choice under conditions of risk uncertainty
Developing a Translational Discourse to Communicate Uncertainty in Flood Risk between Science and the Practitioner
Experts in emergencies
Tsunami risk communication and management
Communicating with the public in emergencies
Framing per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) risk
Communicating Scientific Uncertainty in an Age of Covid-19
Robust municipal decision making? A pilot study of applying robust decision making in three Swedish municipalities
Untangling Trustworthiness and Uncertainty in Science
Social dimensions of synthetic biology in the agrifood sector
Social media and academic identity in food research
Evolución y tendencias de la investigación en comunicación sobre epidemias y pandemias en el ámbito internacional
Examining uncertainties in government risk communication
Communicating about emerging infectious disease
A perceptual divide? Consumer and expert attitudes to food risk management in Europe
Exploring lay uncertainty about an environmental health risk
A comparison between scientists’ and communication scholars’ views about scientists’ public engagement activities
Heuristic responses to pandemic uncertainty
Scientific uncertainty in media content
The framing of risk and implications for policy and governance
How the public evaluates media representations of uncertain science
‘It is not entirely healthy.’ A qualitative study into public appraisals of uncertain risks of chemical substances in food
Mobile phone masts
The explanation of a complex problem
No harm in being self-corrective
Why do experts disagree? The development of a taxonomy
Co-producing uncertainty in public science
What Is Public Engagement, and What Is It for? A Study of Scientists’ and Science Communicators’ Views
Entscheidungen in die weite Zukunft
Communicating about the Risks and Benefits of Genetically Modified Foods
The “bread and butter” of science
When unlikely outcomes occur
Communicating with the public during health crises
How can we Make Food Risk Communication Better
Wrestling with uncertain risks
Mismanagement of Covid-19
Communicating risk for issues that involve ‘uncertainty bias’
Analytics for local knowledge
Mapping the knowledge frontiers of public risk communication in disaster risk management
Genetic engineering, genetic modification, or agricultural biotechnology
Commonplaces in Risk Talk
The management and communication of a food risk controversy
Equipping society for everyday lives
Public reception of scientific uncertainty in the endocrine disrupter controversy
Damned if you do, and damned if you don’t’
How newspapers represent environmental risk
Reducing complexity, signaling, and the pathways to nonsensical policy
Aiming for Social or Political Robustness? Media Strategies Among Climate Scientists
Natural variability or climate change? Stakeholder and citizen perceptions of extreme event attribution
The meanings of ‘risk’
The (Mis)understanding of Scientific Uncertainty? How Experts View Policy-Makers, the Media and Publics
Symbolic Meanings of Wildland Fire
Communicating invasion
Risk-Taking and Research Funding
Censorship and Suppression of Covid-19 Heterodoxy
Responsibility and science communication
Factors influencing H1N1 vaccine behavior among Manitoba Metis in Canada
News media portrayal of attributed stakeholder attitudes to shark management in Australia
Advancing public health communication in the era of empowered health consumerism
Uncertainty and trustworthiness in discussions of fracking
Uncertainty communication in environmental assessments
Science vs. fear
Avoiding climate change uncertainties in Strategic Environmental Assessment
Consumer acceptance of technology-based food innovations
Beyond the knowledge deficit
Consumer responses to communication about food risk management
Research is Tentative, but That’s Okay
Scientists, presidents, and pandemics—comparing the science–politics nexus during the Zika virus and Covid‐19 outbreaks
Heightening Uncertainty Around Certain Science
What Science Communication Scholars Think About Training Scientists to Communicate
Constructing Communication
Communicating Scientific Uncertainty Across the Dissemination Trajectory
Environmental Science in the Media
Facts, Not Fear
Protesting Mobile Phone Masts
| Unique citing works | 78 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 3,25 |
| Citation span | 2002 - 2026 (25) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 77 |