public interfaces of gmos - dels microsite...

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Dietram A. Scheufele

John E. Ross Professor College of Agricultural & Life SciencesUniversity of Wisconsin—Madison

@scheufele

Center for Nanotechnology in SocietyArizona State University

NRC Roundtable on Public Interfaces of the Life Sciences Workshop: When Science and Citizens Connect: Public Engagement on Genetically Modified Organisms

Washington, DC, January 15-16, 2015

PUBLIC INTERFACES OF GMOS

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15THIS TALK … AN OVERVIEW

The PILS roundtable and this workshop GMOs: Why we are here today A few intuitive assumptions about

solutions … and a preview of the social science that tells us if they will work Today and tomorrow …

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Created in 2013 within DELS Monitors (life) science-public interfaces

for topics that have potential to spark public concerns generate policy debates or influence market dynamics etc.

Convening activities, including panel discussions public workshops

NAS ROUNDTABLE ON PUBLIC INTERFACES OF THE LIFE SCIENCES (PILS)

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(Social) science based look at public-science interfaces General principles Empirical data, with GMOs as an

example A closer look at labeling debates

“Workshop” more effective interfaces for the life sciences from the perspective of different stakeholders

THIS WORKSHOP

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15THE “POLITICIZED” SCIENCE OF GMOS …

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Complex science Fast bench-bedside transition Most importantly, ELSI debates

without scientific answers

… GMOS AS POST-NORMAL SCIENCE

http:/

/www

.seve

nday

svt.c

om/

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15THIS IS WHY WE ARE HERE

Ralph Cicerone (2006): “[S]cientists themselves must do a better job of communicating directly to the public.” Alan Leshner (2003): “[W]e need to engage the

public in a more open and honest bidirectional dialogue about science and technology.” Larry Page (2007): Science has a “serious

marketing problem,” and needs to become “engaged in politics, business, and the media.”

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solutions … and a preview of the social science that tells us if they will work Assumption: Knowledge deficits

are responsible for lack of public support …

Today and tomorrow …

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Different labels Knowledge deficit models Familiarity hypothesis etc.

Assumption If people were only more informed, they

would be more supportive of science Effective communication is about explaining

the science better Unfortunately Little empirical support …

A BRIEF HISTORY OFKNOWLEDGE DEFICIT MODELS

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“[M]otivation may affect reasoning through reliance on a biased set of cognitive processes” Confirmation biases Disconfirmation biases

The same information means different things to different people …

THE CONCEPT OF MOTIVATED REASONING

Kunda, Z. (1990). The case for motivated reasoning. Psychological Bulletin, 108(3), 480-498. doi: 10.1037/0033-2909.108.3.480

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2.5

2.7

2.9

3.1

3.3

3.5

3.7

3.9

4.1

Low High

Supp

ort fo

r Hum

an E

mbryo

nic S

tem C

ell

Rese

arch

(par

tial s

cale

rang

e disp

layed

)

Scientific Knowledge

Low ReligiosityHigh Religiosity

EMBRYONIC STEM CELL RESEARCH:INFORMATION AND ATTITUDES

Ho, S. S., Brossard, D., & Scheufele, D. A. (2008). Effects of value predispositions, mass media use, and knowledge on publicattitudes toward embryonic stem cell research. International Journal of Public Opinion Research, 20(2), 171-192.

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solutions … and a preview of the social science that tells us if they will work Assumption: The public does not trust

scientists … Today and tomorrow …

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15SCIENCE CONSISTENTLY OUTPERFORMS OTHER

INSTITUTIONS … INCLUDING THE PRESS(Data based on National Opinion Research Center (NORC) personal interviews with national adult samples,

collected as part of continuing series of social indicators since 1972)

0

10

20

30

40

5019

83

1984

1986

1987

1988

1989

1990

1991

1993

1994

1996

1998

2000

2002

2004

2006

2008

2010

Perce

nt ex

pres

sing “

a gre

at de

al of

confi

denc

e”in

the pe

ople

runn

ing th

e foll

owing

insti

tution

s …

PressOrganized religionScientific community

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0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

Unive

rsity

Scien

tists

Medic

al Pr

ofess

ion

Cons

umer

Orga

nizati

ons

Indus

try S

cienti

sts

Regu

lator

y Age

ncies

Envir

onme

ntal

Orga

nizati

ons

Busin

ess L

eade

rs

Inter

natio

nal

Institu

tions

News

Med

ia

Cong

ress

Relig

ious

Orga

nizati

ons

Whit

e Hou

se

“Whic

h of th

e foll

owing

sour

ces o

f infor

matio

n do

you t

rust

to tel

l you

the t

ruth

abou

t the r

isks

and b

enefi

ts of

nano

techn

ology

…”

(1 =

“not

at all

;” 10

= “ve

ry mu

ch”)

IN FACT, UNIVERSITY SCIENTISTS AMONG MOST TRUSTED SOURCES OF INFORMATION

(Data based on: Scheufele, D. A., Corley, E. A., Shih, T.-j., Dalrymple, K. E., & Ho, S. S. (2009). Religious beliefs and public attitudes to nanotechnology in Europe and the US. Nature Nanotechnology, 4(2), 91-94. doi: 10.1038/NNANO.2008.361)

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solutions … and a preview of the social science that tells us if they will work Assumption: Meaningful public debate

requires citizens that think like scientists …

Today and tomorrow …

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15IRONICALLY, EVEN SCIENTISTS DON’T EXCLUSIVELY RELY ON INFORMATION

Corley, E. A., Scheufele, D. A., & Hu, Q. (2009). Of risks and regulations: How leading US nanoscientists form policy stances about nanotechnology. Journal of Nanoparticle Research, 11(7), 1573-1585. doi: 10.1007/s11051-009-9671-5

Predicting views that nano research should be regulated …

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Two key principles Cognitive misers Low information rationality

Shortcuts, heuristics, etc. become powerful information replacements or shortcuts for complex science or resulting policy options

SO HOW DO WE MAKE SENSE OF COMPLEX SCIENTIFIC INFORMATION?

Scheufele, D. A. (2006). Messages and heuristics: How audiences form attitudes about emerging technologies. In J. Turney (Ed.), Engaging science: Thoughts, deeds, analysis and action (pp. 20-25). London: The Wellcome Trust.

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15MEDIATED IMAGES OF SCIENCE

AS AUDIENCE HEURISTICSNisbet, M. C., Scheufele, D. A., Shanahan, J., Moy, P., Brossard, D., & Lewenstein, B. V. (2002). Knowledge, reservations, or promise?

A media effects model for public perceptions of science and technology. Communication Research, 29(5), 584-608.

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15STEM UNDERGRADUATES AND THEIR

(CULTIVATED) IMAGE OF SCIENTISTS …

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solutions … and a preview of the social science that tells us if they will work Assumption: Science has a

communication monopoly … Today and tomorrow …

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15MODERN SCIENCE COMMUNICATION:

NO COMMUNICATION MONOPOLY FOR SCIENCEScheufele, D. A. (2014). Science communication as political communication. Proceedings of the

National Academy of Sciences, 111(Supplement 4), 13585-13592. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1317516111

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15SCIENTIFIC COMMUNITY HAS HAD

LITTLE CONTROL OVER FRAMING OF GMOSScheufele, D. A. (1999). Framing as a theory of media effects. Journal of Communication, 49(1), 103-122.

The Atlantic Monthly (October 2003)

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15HOW FRAMING WORKS

Bruner, J. S. and A. L. Minturn (1955). "Perceptual identification and perceptual organization." Journal of General Psychology 53: 21-28.

Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky:“Perception [of ambiguous stimuli] is reference-dependent.” Science as complex, ambiguous stimulus, and framing as a

way to reduce this ambiguity by contextualizing the information

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15BUT FRAMING ALSO ALLOWS AUDIENCES TO

CATEGORIZE UNFAMILIAR INFORMATIONTewksbury, D., & Scheufele, D. A. (2009). News framing theory and research. In J. Bryant & M. B. Oliver (Eds.),

Media effects: Advances in theory and research (3rd ed., pp. 17-33). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

But they are also important tools to help audiences determine why an issue is

importantefficiently process new

information by connecting it to what we already know …

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15… FRAMES ARE ESPECIALLLY POWERFUL

IF THEY CONNECT WITH AUDIENCE SCHEMAS

Biotech vs. ’Bambi’ of Insects? Gene-Altered Corn May Kill MonarchsRick Weiss Washington PostMay 20, 1999

A popular new variety of corn plant that hasbeen genetically modified to resist insect pestsmay also be taking a toll on the monarchbutterfly, one of the most beloved insects inthe United States, new research suggests.…

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15WHY FRAMES ARE SO IMPORTANT

IN SOCIETAL DEBATES ABOUT SCIENCE?Tewksbury, D., & Scheufele, D. A. (2009). News framing theory and research. In J. Bryant & M. B. Oliver (Eds.),

Media effects: Advances in theory and research (3rd ed., pp. 17-33). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

Successful communication uses frames or comparisons that we all can relate to Once a frame is established in public

discourse, it’s hard to change There is no such thing as unframed

information …

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15THE DYNAMIC NATURE OF

THE SCIENCE-SOCIETY INTERFACE

Growing body of established social science about stable principles and mechanisms behind building public interfaces

But also significant variations and changes in types of technologies we’re dealing with ELSI concerns surrounding them political and communication environments

they are embedded in GMOs are one of the more complex

examples …

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15THANK YOU

For more information on PILS Roundtable:

Keegan Sawyer, Project Director, email: [email protected] M. Beall, PILS co-chair, email: [email protected]

Dietram A. Scheufele, PILS co-chair, email: [email protected]

URL: http://nas-sites.org/publicinterfaces

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