Science Communication 2003 Abstracts
Science Communication Interest Group
Playing the Information Game: A Survey of Credibility and Health Information on the World Wide Web • Heather A. Black, Syracuse • In their search for health information, consumers use mass media sources (newspapers, television, radio, and the World Wide Web), interpersonal sources (family and friends), and professional sources (physicians). This online survey used credibility theory to investigate consumers’ perceptions of mass media channels for health information. The results suggest that consumers view mass media channels similarly, and they may not employ traditional credibility cues to evaluate the World Wide Web sites they use for health information.
Credibility and Online Health Information Consumers • Camille S. Broadway, Florida • This study examines consumer credibility perceptions of the Internet and online health information. The study draws on the literature and perspective of source credibility and media credibility studies. Respondents to a 34-question online questionnaire scored the Internet as above average on measures of reliability, ease of use and credibility. The Internet, the most popular source of health information for participants, also scored higher on a trustworthiness measure than traditional media.
Accent on the POZitive: A Content Analysis of Biomedical AIDS Stories in POZ Magazine • William P. Cassidy, Wisconsin-Whitewater • This study examines biomedical AIDS stories published in POZ, a magazine targeted at HIV-positive men and women in the United States, during 1996-2000. A monthly stratified sample of 12 issues was content analyzed. Results show that the overall tone of coverage was .94 on a scale of 0 to 2 (0=negative, 2=positive) and that medical or scientific (non-governmental sources), unaffiliated HIV-positive sources and AIDS activist sources figured most prominently in coverage.
The Framing of an Agricultural Controversy: Constructing News About Food Irradiation • Hong-Lim Choi, Iowa • This study aimed to look how journalists construct a version of scientific reality in their media coverage of a scientific controversy. The content analysis focused on the sources cited, the appeals used by these sources to convince the public of their positions regarding the issue, the factors that influenced the nature of this coverage and the framing strategies that have been applied to inform the public about scientific innovation.
Primary Sources of Health Information: Comparisons in the Domain of Health Attitudes, Health Cognitions and Health Behaviors • Mohan J. Dutta-Bergman, Purdue • The recent growth in consumer autonomy in health care accompanied by the surge in the use of new media for health information gathering has led to an increasing scholarly interest in understanding the consumer health information search construct. This paper explores consumer health information seeking in the realm of the primary sources of health information used by consumers.
Question of Trust: The Effects of Knowledge and Public Accountability on Risk and Benefit • Tracy Irani, Florida and Janas Sinclair, Florida International • Public accountability, based on information about the commitment of an organization, was examined as a construct distinct from social trust. Subjects read material communicating either strong or weak government accountability for regulating plant biotechnology. The results provided support for extending the interpersonal accountability framework to a public context: perceptions of government responsibility and determination for regulating plant biotechnology were greater when accountability was strong rather than weak.
Women’s Thoughts and Information Management Women Searching the World Wide Web for Health Information: Exploring Thoughts and Information Management • Maria E. Len-Rios and Frances Gorman, Kansas • This study uses think aloud protocols to explore the thought processes of women (N=12) as they search the World Wide Web for information about leading healthier lifestyles. We use the normative management of information and self-efficacy as our theoretical approach. Analysis of 231 health-specific thoughts shows that women seek information that will provide them hope for improving their health. It also suggests that self-efficacy, source credibility and self-identity play important roles in women’s involvement with health information.
An Entertainment-Education Video as a Tool to Influence Mammography Compliance Behavior in Latinas • Gail D. Love, California State-Fullerton • The purpose of the study is to gain a greater understanding of the relationship between culturally sensitive health-related messages and screening behavior among Latinas. A communication intervention in the form of a two-minute, Spanish-language, entertainment-education video was field-tested in conjunction with a reinforcement interview one week after respondents viewed the video. Implications are increased knowledge and diffusion of information may not necessarily lead to short-term attitudinal and behavioral change, particularly when unpleasant consequences may result.
Environmental Hazards, Cancer Risk Judgment and Media Use in Appalachia • Daniel Riffe, Ohio • Phone survey (N=469) examined cancer risk judgments among Appalachian Ohioans, exploring how concern over local cancer-related environmental health hazards is related to those judgments and to media use, particularly medical and health-related news. Personal risk was related to seriousness of local environmental hazards, with subjects demonstrating biased optimism about risk to others. Use of health-related and medical-related news was also related to seriousness of local hazards, but not with perceived personal risk.
New York Times and National Magazine Coverage of Project Chariot, 1958 to 1962 • Ron Rodgers, Ohio • This study reviews The New York Times’ and magazine coverage from 1958 to 1962 of Project Chariot • an Atomic Energy Commission plan to blast out a harbor in northwest Alaska with four nuclear bombs. And in doing so, this study traces the four-year debate among scientists, government agencies and environmental activists that was largely played out in the media and ultimately led to the first stirrings of the modern environmental movement in the United States.
The Impact of Risk Communication on the Acceptance of Irradiated Food • Lulu Rodriguez, Iowa State • This study used a quasi-experimental design to assess the impact of pro- and anti-food irradiation messages on consumer opinions, and to understand the process of opinion formation regarding the diffusion of information about this controversial technology. The data came from a longitudinal panel of 223 adults in Minneapolis, MN., who completed three successive questionnaires. One group received a packet containing information materials; another did not.
Perceptions of Media Coverage of Conflicts of Interest within the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Advisory Committees • Leah Simone and Katherine McComas, Maryland • Using the theories of agenda-setting, framing and those that explain perceptions of bias in the media and media influence on the public, we explored the U.S. FDA officials’ perception of the media coverage of conflicts of interest within the FDA’s advisory committees. Informants attributed what they perceived as unfairly negative stories to various constraints faced by modern-day media, journalists’ own ideological considerations and the FDA’s reluctance to rebut unfavorable coverage.
Agenda-Building, Source Selection and Health News at Local Television Stations: The First Nationwide Survey of Local Television Health Reporters • Andrea H. Tanner, South Carolina • This study was the first nationwide examination of local television news health reports looking at health and medical newsgathering from the reporters’ perspective. Data from this study revealed significant insight into how these health reporters receive ideas for their health stories and what influences a health reporter to cover a particular topic. The findings suggest a theoretical link between agenda-building and health reporting, suggesting a health reporter’s reliance on sources is exacerbated by the technical nature of health and medial news.
Promise or Peril: How Newspapers Frame Stem Cell Research • Kimberly R. Taylor, Florida • Newspapers have long been the public’s dominant source of scientific knowledge. In recent times, biotechnology issues have been featured with growing frequency. The purpose of this study was to examine how issues surrounding stem cell research have been portrayed in two major newspapers. A textual analysis was performed on 49 articles published from August 2000 through September 2001, using both qualitative and quantitative methods. The analysis found that a frame of uncertainty dominated coverage.
The Communication Needs and Behaviors of Iowa Apple Growers and Cider Producers • Andrew Zehr, Iowa State • This study determined how Iowa apple and cider producers gather and disseminate food safety information. A questionnaire asked about their media use and trust in information sources. A test of third-person effects of media on perceptions of public worry about food safety issues found evidence only on topics of food irradiation and genetically modified crops. The findings suggest a combination of media and interpersonal sources to efficiently communicate with this group.
Communicating Forest Management Science and Practices through Visualized and Animated Media Approaches to Community Presentations: An Exploration and Assessment • Donald Zimmerman, Carol Akerelrea, Garrett O’Keefe, Colorado State and Jane Kapler Smith, U.S.D.A. Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station • Natural resource managers have used a variety of computer-mediated presentation methods to communicate management practices to diverse publics. We explored the effects of visualizing and animating computerized presentations in explaining forest succession, fire behavior, management options, and mathematical models. In an experimental design using purposive samples, rural mountain, town and student groups appeared to have gained substantial information from the presentations with inter-group differences depending on presentation mode.
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