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Framing Science:Understanding the Battle Over Public Opinion in Policy Debates

Matthew C. Nisbet, Ph.D. Assistant Professor School of Communication American University

10.11.06 AAAS Science Policy Alliance Series


Overview

Traditional models of science communication Face challenges from media system and media strategists Don’t fit with a scientific understanding of the ‘mass public’

What Else Works? Framing, examples from politics Framing, examples across science

Evidence? Stem cell debate Global warming debate


Science Literacy and Popular Science

Assumption: If the public knew more about the technical side of science, then the public would view issues as scientists do, and there would be fewer controversies

Emphasis is on science education and mass mediated popular science.


What about the Public Engagement Model?

Two-way interaction between scientists and citizens.

Upstream development of research (nanotechnology).

Take advantage of localized understanding and knowledge.

Increase citizen efficacy, sense of involvement, and fairness.


“The American people have spoken. Seventy-two percent of Americans support ethically based stem cell research. In vetoing this legislation, the President would be saying ‘No’ to 72 percent of the American people.” House Minority Leader Nancy

Pelosi

Science and the Battle Over the ‘Mass Public’


A Fully Informed Public Versus a Miserly Public? Lessons from Political Campaigns

If he doesn’t live your life, share your values, or is someone you would want to have a beer with, then he shouldn’t be your President.

It’s the issues, stupid! J-H-o-S: Jobs, Health Care, and National Security.


Strategic Communication Is About Activation, Reinforcement, and Mobilization NOT Persuasion

Source: CNN


Latte Drinking Liberals:Framing as Activation

“Frames” are thought organizers, devices for packaging complex issues in ways that activate value predispositions.

Frames activate by emphasizing certain interpretations of an issue over others, structuring which parts of reality become noticed.

“Frame devices” communicate in short hand the underlying meaning of a frame. Can be catchphrases, slogans, cartoons, symbols, or images.

Frames are most influential when they resonate with existing religious, ideological, or cultural values.

George Lakoff?


Framing the President: LEADERSHIP STYLE AND COMPETENCY

Pro-Bush argument A: Bush has strong convictions and beliefs, he is a strong leader, and does not back down from goals based on polls or when short-term trends do not go his way.

Pro-Bush argument B: Bush is the first “CEO president,” the “first president with a Harvard MBA,” smart enough to know that he needs to surround himself with really experienced, loyal people he can trust.

Anti-Bush argument A: Bush is a blind ideologue. He is willing to bend facts/data ideology. Even if new information suggests that his original decisions were wrong, Bush is unwilling to change his mind.

Anti-Bush argument B: A small group of like- minded ideologues protect him from information or input from other members of government that contradict his ideas or decisions.


NEWSWEEK’S FRAME DEVICE


Woodward’s STATE OF DENIAL


NARRATIVE FIDELITY: Past Devices

2003

2004


NARRATIVE FIDELITY: First Presidential Debate

It's one thing to be certain, but you can be certain and be wrong. It's another to be certain and be right, or to be certain and be moving in the right direction, or be certain about a principle and then learn new facts and take those new facts and put them to use in order to change and get your policy right. What I worry about with the president is that he's not acknowledging what's on the ground, he's not acknowledging the realities of North Korea, he's not acknowledging the truth of the science of stem-cell research or of global warming and other issues. And certainty sometimes can get you in trouble.

John Kerry when asked to describe the differences between himself and the President


Framing Nuclear Energy:Social Progress & Economic Competitiveness

"It is not too much to expect that our children will enjoy in their homes electrical energy too cheap to meter…”

Lewis L. Strauss, Atomic Energy Commission to NASW 1954.

Gamson, WA. and Modigliani, A. (1989). Media Discourse and Public Opinion on Nuclear Power: A Constructionist Approach. American Journal of Sociology, 95, 1-37.


Framing Stem Cell Research & Plant Biotech:Social Progress & Economic Competitiveness


Framing Nuclear Energy: Pandora’s Box, Public Accountability & Uncertainty


Framing Plant Biotech & Stem Cell Research: Pandora’s Box, Public Accountability & Uncertainty


Framing Global Warming: Pandora’s Box


Framing Global Warming:Uncertainty & Economic Competitiveness


Framing Global Warming: Moral Duty & Economic Competitiveness


NISBET APRIL 2005: Knowledge of Politics and Science of Stem Cell Research

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

0 1 2 3 4 5

Number Correct

% o

f R

esp

on

den

ts

Mean= 1.8 SD= 1.3

1. Bush decision.

2. California proposition.

3. Why scientists think ESC is important.

4. Regulation of cloning.

5. N-I-H stands for?

Source: National RDD Telephone Survey, March 19 to April 29, 2005 N=774, adults 18 and older. OSU and SRI @ Cornell University.


The Social Progress Frame

JDRF 2001 As you may already know, a stem cell is the basic cell in the body from which all other cells arise. Medical researchers have been able to isolate stem cells from excess human embryos developed through in vitro fertilization and fetal tissue that has been donated to research. The medical researchers believe that human stem cells can be developed as replacement cells to cure diseases such as diabetes, Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, cancer, heart disease, arthritis, burns, or spinal cord problems. Do you favor the funding of stem cell research by the National Institutes of Health?"

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

Should Fund Should Not Fund Don't Know

% o

f R

esp

on

de

nts


The Morality Frame

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

Should Fund Should Not Fund Don't Know

% o

f R

esp

on

den

ts

NCCB 2001 Stem cells are the basic cells from which all of a person’s tissues and organs develop. Congress is considering whether to provide funding for experiments using stem cells from human embryos. The live embryos would be destroyed in their first week of development to obtain these cells. Do you support or oppose using your federal tax dollars for such experiments?


Stem Cell Debate: Who’s Winning the Frame Contest?


What is the Nature of Media Coverage? Two Sided Trending More Positive

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

50

1998-2000 2001 2002-03 2004

% o

f A

rtic

les

Research Advocates Prolife Interests Catholic Interests


VCU 2001 & 2002:Value Predispositions as a Perceptual Screen

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

Nothing Not Much A Little A Lot

How much have you seen, read, or heard...?

% F

avo

r E

SC

Res

ear

ch

Non-ReligiousModerately ReligiousStrongly Religious

62%

Yuck Factor

SOURCE: Nisbet, 2005. The Competition for Worldviews: Values, Information, and Public Support for Stem Cell Research. International Journal of Public Opinion Research.


PEW: Since 2001, As Awareness Increases, Support Increases to Slight Majority

4352 565756

4248

27

43 47

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

Mar-02 Aug-04 Dec-04 Jul-05 Jul-06

%Conduct Research %Heard A Lot

a) All in all, which is more important: Conducting stem cell research that might result in new medical cures OR Not destroying the potential life of human embryos involved in this research?

b) As you may know the Fed. Govt. has debated whether to fund certain kinds of medical research know as ‘sc research’, have much have you heard about this?


VCU: Since 2001, Increasing Support to Slight Majority Level

On the whole, how much do you favor or oppose medical research that uses stem cells from human embryos--do you strongly favor, somewhat favor, somewhat oppose, or strongly oppose this?

5853

47

35

48

0102030405060708090

100

Sept-01 Sept-02 Sept-03 Sept-04 Sept-05

% Strongly Favor/Somewhat Favor


2005 NISBET:BUT “Cloning” Remains a Frame Device

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80

Benefit Society

Morally Acceptable

Should be Funded

% Agree

Spare Embryo SC Cloned Embryo SC

Source: National RDD Telephone Survey, March 19 to April 29, 2005 N=774, adults 18 and older. OSU and SRI @ Cornell University. +/-3.5% at 95% confidence level.


PROP 71: How the West Was Won


“One is the extraordinary opportunity we have here to eradicate these diseases that are plaguing our friends and families, diseases like Alzheimer's, MS, diabetes. (PROGRESS)

Our scientists are not going into this field because there's not adequate funding, there's not adequate resources. Or if they are, we're losing them to other countries like Singapore. (ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT.)

“I think the mistake is looking at this as just a cost. We should be looking at this as an investment for our economy. …As new treatments were found health care costs would go down. What history has shown us is that it's cheaper to--to cure a disease than it is to continue to treat a disease.” (ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT)

– Actor Brad Pitt on NBC Today Show, Oct. 26, 2004

STAYING ON MESSAGE:Brad, Why Do You Support Prop. 71?


How the West Was Won:Ad Blitz, One-Sided Framing Shifted Support

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

Aug. Field Poll Sept. Field Poll Oct. Field Poll

% o

f R

esp

on

den

ts

SupportProp. 71

Seen orHeard aboutProp. 71

October Field Survey

010203040506070

HeardNothing

HeardSomething

% S

up

po

rt


PEW: Since 2001, Differential In Support By Religious Affiliation

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100


% R

esea

rch

Mor

e Im

port

ant

% Secular % Mainline % Catholic % Evangelical

+18+22+6 +15


PEW: Since 2001, Differential In Support By Partisanship

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100


% R

esea

rch

Mor

e Im

port

ant

% ConRep % ModRep % Indep % ModDem % LibDem

+18+6 +16+10 +16


GALLUP: Is medical research using stem cells obtained from human embryos morally acceptable?

52

53 5149

51

68

54

57 58

72

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

May 2002 May 2003 May 2004 May 2005 May 2006

% M

ora

lly A

ccep

tab

le

Republicans Democrats


What About Global Warming?

Similar Pattern: Knowledge is Low Public Rely on Frames Frames Activate Partisanship as Perceptual Screen


GALLUP: Most Scientists Agree GW is Occurring

28

6165

46

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

1994 1997 2001 2006

% A

gree


PEW: Consensus Among Great Majority of Scientists that GW Exists and Poses Threat

52

43

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

2004 2005

% C

onse

nsus

Exi

sts


OSU/ABC: Most Scientists Agree GW is Happening Or Is There a Lot of Disagreement?

3035

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

1998 2006

% S

cien

tist

s A

gree


GLOBAL WARMING:Knowledge of Bush Decision on Kyoto

PIPAa 10/02 (%)

PIPAa,b 09/04 (%)

PIPAa,b 06/05 (%)

Decided to continue to support the agreement 48 42 43 Decided to withdraw U.S. support 42 48 43 Don't know/Refused 11 11 14 N 1,091 1,195 812

Do you know whether George W. Bush has decided that the US (United States) will continue to support the global warming agreement, enacted in Kyoto, Japan in 1997, or has he decided to withdraw US support from that agreement?


Framing Kyoto:An Economic Burden

GALLUPPres. Bush recentlyannounced that the US will not adhere to the Kyoto International Treaty, which sets voluntary limits on the production of carbon dioxide and other global warming related gases. Bush says Kyoto places too much of an economic burden on the US while demanding little of developing countries. Do you approve or disapprove of Bush’s decision?

41 42

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

Apr01 June01

% A

pp

rove

Bu

sh D

ecis

ion


Framing Kyoto: No Interpretation Provided

2529

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

Apr01 Aug01

% A

ppro

ve o

f B

ush

deci

sion

PEW As you may know, George

W. Bush has decided that the US should withdraw its support from the global warming agreement, adopted in Kyoto, Japan in 1997. Do you approve or disapprove of this decision?


GALLUP: Worried Great Deal/Fair Amount About Global Warming

76 78 78

69 71 65

77

45

32

444750

6459

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

Apr99 Apr00 Mar01 Mar02 Mar03 Mar04 Mar06

% Dems % GOP

Clinton Admininstration

9/11Bush Admininstration


Gallup 10/2005: Partisan Differences in the Interpretation of Katrina

Thinking about the increase in the number and strength of hurricanes in recent years, do you think global warming has been a major cause, a minor cause, or not a cause of the increase in hurricanes?

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

ALL GOP Indep. Dems

% M

ajor

/Min

or C

ause


CONCLUSION: Towards a Scientific Understanding of the Public

Science literacy and public engagement models are limited, esp. when thinking about the “mass public.”

For strategic communication, there is nothing essentially unique or different about science from other political issues.

Battle for public opinion is about activating favorable predispositions and these predispositions are then used as powerful filtering devices by public.

Frames are the primary tools of activation. Miserly citizens use frames in combination with their value predispositions to cut down on information costs.


LOOKING AHEAD?

What are the generalizable frames for science issues, and what language and symbols across issues trigger these interpretations?

These general principles apply to global warming, intelligent design, plant biotechnology, nuclear energy, nanotechnology and other issues.

Framing can be most influential when an issue is new i.e. stem cell research, plant biotech, and nanotechnology.

Going beyond survey data and focus groups, can case studies inform?

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