Resources Repository
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ArticlePublication 2021Rational Policymaking during a Pandemic
Policymaking during a pandemic can be extremely challenging. As COVID-19 is a new disease and …
Policymaking during a pandemic can be extremely challenging. As COVID-19 is a new disease and its global impacts are unprecedented, decisions are taken in a highly uncertain, complex, and rapidly changing environment. In such a context, in which human lives and the economy are at stake, the authors argue that using ideas and constructs from modern decision theory, even informally, will make policymaking a more responsible and transparent process.
Science/Technology | Policy/Regulation | Decision Theory | Priority Setting/Ethics | Infectious Diseases | Government/Law | Health/Medicine | Global -
ArticlePublication 2021Why the Backfire Effect Does Not Explain the Durability of Political Misperceptions
Previous research indicated that corrective information can sometimes provoke a so-called “backfire effect” in which …
Previous research indicated that corrective information can sometimes provoke a so-called “backfire effect” in which respondents more strongly endorsed a misperception about a controversial political or scientific issue when their beliefs or predispositions were challenged. This article shows how subsequent research and media coverage seized on this finding, distorting its generality and exaggerating its role relative to other factors in explaining the durability of political misperceptions. To the contrary, an emerging research consensus finds that…
Science/Technology | Social Determinants | Decision Psychology | Preferences/Values | Culture/Society | Government/Law | Health/Medicine | North America -
ArticlePublication 2021Narrative Truth About Scientific Misinformation
Science and storytelling mean different things when they speak of truth. This difference leads some …
Science and storytelling mean different things when they speak of truth. This difference leads some to blame storytelling for presenting a distorted view of science and contributing to misinformation. Yet others celebrate storytelling as a way to engage audiences and share accurate scientific information. This review disentangles the complexities of how storytelling intersects with scientific misinformation. Storytelling is the act of sharing a narrative, and science and narrative represent two distinct ways of constructing reality.…
Science/Technology | Social Determinants | Decision Psychology | Preferences/Values | Culture/Society | Health/Medicine | Global | North America -
ArticlePublication 2021Misinformation in and About Science
Humans learn about the world by collectively acquiring information, filtering it, and sharing what we …
Humans learn about the world by collectively acquiring information, filtering it, and sharing what we know. Misinformation undermines this process. The repercussions are extensive. Without reliable and accurate sources of information, we cannot hope to halt climate change, make reasoned democratic decisions, or control a global pandemic. Most analyses of misinformation focus on popular and social media, but the scientific enterprise faces a parallel set of problems – from hype and hyperbole to publication bias…
Science/Technology | Social Determinants | Decision Psychology | Preferences/Values | Culture/Society | Government/Law | Global | North America -
ArticlePublication 2021Misinformation About Science in the Public Sphere
This paper resulted from the Arthur M. Sackler Colloquium of the National Academy of Sciences, …
This paper resulted from the Arthur M. Sackler Colloquium of the National Academy of Sciences, "Advancing the Science and Practice of Science Communication: Misinformation About Science in the Public Sphere," held in April 2019 at the Arnold and Mabel Beckman Center of the National Academies of Sciences and Engineering in Irvine, CA. The complete program and video recordings of most presentations are available on the NAS website. This description was adapted from the article information.…
Science/Technology | Social Determinants | Culture/Society | Education/Labor | Health/Medicine | North America -
ArticlePublication 2021COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy: The Five C's to Tackle Behavioral and Sociodemographic Factors
Reversing and mitigating the ongoing damage associated with the COVID-19 pandemic requires that 60-70% of …
Reversing and mitigating the ongoing damage associated with the COVID-19 pandemic requires that 60-70% of the world’s population needs to be vaccinated. This article acknowledges that hesitancy is one of the most substantial hurdles to vaccination uptake at levels that would achieve herd immunity. Authors define hesitancy as “a delay in acceptance or refusal despite availability.” Five factors are proposed to tackle vaccine hesitancy, referred to as the five “C’s”: Confidence (importance, safety and efficacy…
Science/Technology | Social Determinants | Decision Psychology | Preferences/Values | Health Outcomes | Evidence Synthesis | Infectious Diseases | Culture/Society | Health/Medicine | North America -
ReportPublication 2021What the American Public Thinks About Vaccines and How Framing Can Help
This paper explores the question of public understandings, beliefs, and attitudes about vaccination in general, …
This paper explores the question of public understandings, beliefs, and attitudes about vaccination in general, and childhood vaccination more specifically. The authors provide an overview of the existing literature on public thinking about vaccination and on effective communication strategies and interventions that have been either suggested or empirically tested. This description was extracted from the publication abstract.
Science/Technology | Social Determinants | Preferences/Values | Infectious Diseases | Child/Nutrition | Culture/Society | Health/Medicine | North America -
ReviewPublication 2021European News Consumers' Perceptions of Misinformation
This study indicated that news users across ten different European countries are quite concerned about …
This study indicated that news users across ten different European countries are quite concerned about misinformation in their information environment. Respondents were most likely to associate politicians, corporations, and foreign actors with misinformation. They perceived misinformation to be most common for topics like immigration, the economy, and the environment. This offered support for the increasingly more relative and politicized status of facts in people’s credibility perceptions. Yet, differences across sources and issues were relatively modest,…
Science/Technology | Social Determinants | Decision Psychology | Preferences/Values | Culture/Society | Education/Labor | Health/Medicine | Europe -
ArticlePublication 2021Measuring the Impact of COVID-19 Vaccine Misinformation on Vaccination Intent in the U.K. and U.S.
Widespread acceptance of a vaccine for SARS-CoV-2 will be the next major step to fight …
Widespread acceptance of a vaccine for SARS-CoV-2 will be the next major step to fight the COVID-19 pandemic, but high uptake achievement will be a challenge and may be impeded by online misinformation. This article is a randomized controlled trial in the U.K. and the U.S. with the objective to quantify how exposure to online misinformation around COVID-19 vaccines affects intent to vaccinate to protect oneself or others. The authors report that in both countries…
Science/Technology | Social Determinants | Decision Psychology | Preferences/Values | Infectious Diseases | Child/Nutrition | Culture/Society | Health/Medicine | North America | Europe