Risk communication

Pandemicity and Severity are Separate Constructs

by Alan Card

Response to Consultation from European Medicines Agency: Good Pharmacovigilance Practice Module V – Risk management systems' (EMA/838713/2011)

by Theo Raynor

This consultation on Risk Management Systems is part of a wider consultation on Good Pharmacovigilance Practice. more This consultation on Risk Management Systems is part of a wider consultation on Good Pharmacovigilance Practice.

I focus my comments on risk minimisation materials and their need to be accessible, readable and understandable for the target readers (whether patients or professionals)

Unwetterwarnungen und ihre Kommunikation: Stand und Potential – Das Projekt WEXICOM

by Thomas Kox

Göber, M.; Heisterkamp, T.; Kox, T.; Ulbrich, U.H.; Ulbrich, U. & L. Gerhold (2012): Unwetterwarnungen und ihre Kommunikation: Stand und Potential – Das Projekt WEXICOM. Poster at BMBF- Innovationsforum Zivile Sicherheit 17. - 19. April 2012, Berlin

Entre la inseguridad y la felicidad. Análisis empírico de la hipermodernidad en la publicidad televisiva

by Victor Hernandez-Santaolalla

Co-authored with María del Mar Rubio-Hernández. III Congreso Internacional de la Asociación Española de Investigación de la Comunicación (AE-IC), "Comunicación y riesgo", 18-20 de enero, 2012.

El concepto de hipermodernidad surge en el campo de la sociología sobre la década de 1990 para designar un periodo... more El concepto de hipermodernidad surge en el campo de la sociología sobre la década de 1990 para designar un periodo caracterizado por un clima de inseguridad, incertidumbre y riesgo
global. Entendida como la radicalización de los principios básicos de la posmodernidad, la era hipermoderna genera un individuo vulnerable, que por un lado se centra en el goce del presente, mientras que por otro lado se afana en imponer mecanismos de prevención y control con respecto a un futuro incierto. En dicho contexto, el consumo, que también se hace extremo, adquiere especial significado en la definición de la identidad del sujeto; ello se manifiesta en el discurso publicitario, dirigido a satisfacer instantáneamente los deseos del individuo, ofrecerle experiencias individualizadas, otorgarle un mayor poder de elección y alertarle de la importancia de cuidarse a la vez que le garantiza seguridad  y confianza. Hasta qué punto la publicidad se contagia del clima imperante y se apropia de los elementos de la hipermodernidad para construir sus argumentos, es el objetivo de este estudio pragmático, que analiza un corpus de anuncios para determinar si el discurso publicitario se configura según los principios de la era hipermoderna.

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The concept of hipermodernity appears within the sociology sphere in the decade of 1990’s to designate a period characterized by a climate of insecurity, uncertainty and global risk. The hipermodern era, which is conceived as the radicalization of the basic principles of posmodernism, generates a vulnerable individual; this subject focuses on enjoying the present time while putting a lot of effort into imposing control and prevention mechanisms concerning an uncertain future as well. In such context, consumption, which also turns extreme, acquires a special meaning when it refers to defining the subject’s identity; that aspect manifests in the advertising discourse, oriented to instantly satisfy the individual’s desires, to offer individualized experiences to him/her, to provide him/her with the power of decision and to warn him/her about the importance of taking care of themselves while guaranteeing security and confidence. To what extent advertising is influenced by the predominant climate and how it makes use  of hypermodern elements to construct its arguments is the aim of this pragmatic study, which analyzes a sample of commercials to determine if advertising discourse is configured by the principles of the hypermodern era. 

Environmental risks and the media

by Cynthia Carter

Introduction: The media politics of environmental risk

by Cynthia Carter

Technology, Society & Severe Weather Events: Developing Integrated Warning Systems

by Jenniffer Santos-Hernandez

Rhetoric of a Global Epidemic: Intercultural and Intracultural Professional Communication About SARS

by Huiling Ding

Dissertation.Won College Composition and Communication Conference Outstanding Dissertation Award in Technical Communication, Honorable Mention, 2008

How to make a risk seem riskier: The ratio bias versus construal level theory

by Carissa Bonner

Carissa Bonner, Ben R Newell. Judgment and Decision Making 2008; 3 (5): 411-416.

Which statement conveys greater risk: “100 people die from cancer every day” or “36,500 people die from cancer every... more Which statement conveys greater risk: “100 people die from cancer every day” or “36,500 people die from cancer every year”? In statistics where both frequencies and temporal information are used to convey risk, two theories predict opposite answers to this question. Construal level theory predicts that “100 people die from cancer every day” will be judged as more risky, while the ratio bias predicts that the equivalent “36,500 people die from cancer every year” will result in higher risk judgments.

An experiment investigated which format produces higher risk ratings, and whether ratings are influenced by increasing the salience of the numerical or temporal part of the statistic. Forty-eight participants were randomly assigned to a numerical, temporal or control salience condition, and rated risk framed as number of deaths per day or per year.

The year format was found to result in higher perceived risk, indicating that the ratio bias effect is dominant, but there was no effect of salience.

STRENGTHENING COLLABORATIONS FOR WATER-RELATED RISK COMMUNICATIONS

by Lisa Ragain

A Model Assessment Tool for the Incident Command System: A Case Study of the San Antonio Fire Department

by Brian O'Neill

The Risk Versus Hazard Debate: Reconciling Inconsistencies in Health and Safety Regulation within the UK and across the EU

by Phil Dines

Sweta Chakraborty

Dr Sweta Chakraborty reviews the current debate over health & safety regulation, representing the views of... more Dr Sweta Chakraborty reviews the current debate over health & safety regulation, representing the views of academics, regulators, government, and lawyers, including the British Safety Council and the Health and Safety Executive.

The policy brief recommends a more lenient approach to regulation based on risk management rather than hazard classifications.

It reinforces recommendations made in the Löfstedt Report, which have been adopted in the Government Response and reflected in David Cameron's pledge to "tackle the health and safety monster".

Media, Risk and Absence of Blame for ‘Acts of God’: Attenuation of the European Volcanic Ash Cloud of 2010

by Adam Burgess

This article analyses the character, extent and patterns of media coverage of the 2010 volcanic ash cloud, comparing... more This article analyses the character, extent and patterns of media coverage of the 2010 volcanic ash cloud, comparing it with coverage of other major natural hazards such as Deepwater Horizon. It does so drawing upon sociological themes and concludes that the ash cloud was reported largely in its own terms rather than being amplified as a wider, uncertain threat. As well as the absence of major incident and casualties two interrelated factors are highlighted to explain this result. Emphasising the importance of hazard duration, the unexpected arrival and short lived character of the ash cloud was one important factor that limited the potential for sustained media amplification. More broadly, this was an ‘act of God’ with no clearly responsible agents. This preliminary study suggests that contemporary media risk narrative requires a focus for institutional blame attribution, and without a plausible candidate amplification may not acquire momentum.

Percorsi dell'incertezza verso la tecnoscienza. Studio di un caso rivelatore. / Uncertainty towards technoscience: a revelatory case-study

by Giuseppe Tipaldo

2011 published in 'Quaderni di Sociologia', LV, 85-108

EN

As a part of a still on-going five-years research conducted on the social impact of the presently... more EN

As a part of a still on-going five-years research conducted on the social impact of the presently under-construction incineration plant in the city of Turin, Italy, the paper has its own background in the scientific domain known as Science-Technology-Society studies (STSs). One of the 320 environmental conflicts at the moment spread across the country, the Turin case is here used as a revelatory case for a critical discussion about uncertainty, risk and the increasingly deep tensions between Science and Society, lay public and expertise. Moreover, a multi-technique approach, including lexical correspondence analysis, is adopted to gather empirical evidence about the hypothesis, eventually verified, that public images of Science, Technology and scientists actually can have a significant influence on the attitude towards the plant.


IT
Il lavoro discusso in questo articolo deriva da un più ampio progetto di ricerca avviato nel 2007, e tuttora in corso, in merito al monitoraggio dell’impatto sociale del primo termovalorizzatore di rifiuti solidi urbani della Provincia di Torino, al momento in costruzione a sud del capoluogo piemontese, in un’area nota come Gerbido . I dati presentati inscrivono la discussione all’interno di quell’ambito della ricerca sociale che prende il nome di Science-Technology-Society studies (STS). In particolare, la vicenda del combustore torinese – uno dei 320 casi di conflitti ambientali relativi a infrastrutture tecnoscientifiche che attualmente interessano l’Italia – sarà impiegata come lente di ingrandimento attraverso la quale osservare con maggiore nitore le tensioni che oggigiorno pervadono lo spazio sociale dei rapporti tra la società e la tecnoscienza. Questa, infatti, pare non essere più in grado di porsi come fonte certa di verità, attirando su di sé crescenti dosi di diffidenza, quando non di vera e propria critica, da parte del pubblico laico.
Partendo dall’abbandono di uno dei membri più attivi di un gruppo di discussione presso il quale è stata svolta un’osservazione partecipante coperta di un anno, l’articolo segue volutamente un andamento circolare, in cui l’asse centrale costituito dal rapporto Scienza-Società, mediato da una crescente incertezza attribuita dal pubblico al sapere tecnoscientifico, è sia punto di partenza dell’analisi dei dati sia approdo delle riflessioni conclusive. Inoltre, l’impostazione fortemente multitecnica del disegno della ricerca risponde, tra gli altri, all’obiettivo specifico di costruire, combinando approccio estensivo ed intensivo, un quadro indiziario plausibile rispetto all’ipotesi, confermata dall’analisi delle corrispondenze, che le immagini pubbliche della scienza e dei suoi attori abbiano un’influenza sull’atteggiamento verso l’impianto.

Precautionary Principle

by Christian Munthe

Accepted for publication and forthcoming in LaFolette, H, Deigh, J & Stroud, S (ed.), The International Encyclopedia of Ethics, Wiley Blackwell, forthcoming.

Actores periodísticos y polílticos en momentos de crisis: un estudio de caso

by Carles Pont

This article tries to study the relationship between iournalists and politicians in critical situations. The writers... more This article tries to study the relationship between iournalists and politicians in critical situations. The writers have analyzed the information broadcast by the television networks in Spain: Televisión Española, Antena 3 and Tele 5 on March 2004 11th, 12th and 13th, just after the terrorist attack in Madrid. From this study research, it has been concluded that the journalists had little critical capacity, they were in collusion with the politicians, spreading certain badly argued theses and subject maner, using unwarranted expressions.

Resumen:
Este artículo pretende estudiar la relación entre periodistas y políticos en situaciones críticas. Los autores han analizado la información emitida por las cadenas de televisión: Televisión Espanola, Antena 3 y Tele 5 en los días 1 1 , 12 y 13 de marzo de 2004, coincidiendo con el atentado de Madrid. De esta investigación, se concluye que los periodistas actuaron con poca capacidad crítica, en connivencia con los políticos, en la propagación de determinadas tesis poco o nada argumentadas y de ciertos tópicos y expresiones gratuitas.

Journalistic practice in risk and crisis situations: Significant examples from Spain

by Carles Pont

Carles Pont Sorribes and Sergi Cortiñas Rovira

In a democratic society, the media are central to the communication of risks and uncertainties to the public. This... more In a democratic society, the media are central to the communication of risks and uncertainties to the public. This article presents 10 proposals for improving media coverage in social risk situations. The article focuses on the production logic of the media and its consequences for society. The proposals and the conclusions of this research are supported by an analysis of three Spanish cases: the risk implied by the Tarragona chemical complex (one of the biggest in Europe); the terrorist attacks on 11 March 2004 in Madrid; and the Carmel tunnel disaster in Barcelona on January 2005. The authors are participating in a research project on public perception of risk funded by the Spanish Education Ministry on public perception of risk (2004–2007 and 2007–2010).

Perceptions populaires du risque et savoirs experts en contexte de pandémie : le cas du A(H1N1) au Québec.

by Michel Desy

Authored with Raymond Massé, Daniel Weinstock and Caroline Moisan.

Public attitudes to genomic science: An experiment in information provision.

by Chris Fife-Schaw

Author version available for download. Appeared as:
Sturgis, P., Brunton-Smith, I. and Fife-Schaw, C. (2010). Public attitudes to genomic science: An experiment in information provision. Public Understanding of Science, 19, 160 - 180.

We use an experimental panel study design to investigate the effect of providing ‘value-neutral’ information about... more We use an experimental panel study design to investigate the effect of providing ‘value-neutral’ information about genomic science in the form of a short film to a random sample of the British public. We find little evidence of attitude change as a function of information provision. However, our results show that information provision significantly increased drop-out from the study amongst less educated respondents. Our findings have implications both for our understanding of the knowledge-attitude relationship in public opinion toward genomic science and for science communication more generally.

Restoring Drinking Water Acceptance following a Water-borne Disease Outbreak: The Role of Trust, Risk Perception, Blame, and Communication.

by Chris Fife-Schaw

This paper has been accepted for publication as:
Bratanova, B., Morrison, G., Fife-Schaw, C., Chenoweth, J. & Mangold, M. (in press). Restoring Drinking Water Acceptance following a Water-borne Disease Outbreak: The Role of Trust, Risk Perception, Blame, and Communication. Journal of Applied Social Psychology.

Although research shows that acceptance, trust, and risk perception are often related, little is known about the... more Although research shows that acceptance, trust, and risk perception are often related, little is known about the underlying patterns of causality among the three constructs. In the context of a water-borne disease outbreak, we explored via zero-order/partial correlation analysis whether acceptance predicts both trust and risk perception (associationist model), or whether trust influences risk perception and acceptance (causal chain model). The results supported the causal chain model suggesting a causal role for trust. A subsequent path analysis confirmed that the effect of trust on acceptance is fully mediated by risk perception. It also revealed that trust is positively predicted by prior institutional trust and communication with the public. Implications of the findings for response strategies to contamination events are discussed. Key words: trust, acceptance, risk perception