Improving risk communication / Committee on Risk Perception and Communication, Commission on Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education, Commission on Physical Sciences, Mathematics, and Resources, National Research Council.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

National Research Council (U.S.). Committee on Risk Perception and Communication.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Risk communication.

Communication of technical information.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (352 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Washington, D.C. : National Academy Press, 1989.

Contents:

IMPROVING RISK COMMUNICATION

Copyright

Preface

Acknowledgments

Contents

Summary

A NEW PERSPECTIVE

COMMON MISCONCEPTIONS ABOUT RISK COMMUNICATION

PROBLEMS OF RISK COMMUNICATION

Problems Deriving from the Institutional and Political Systems

Problems of Risk Communicators and Recipients

CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Management of the Process

Setting Realistic Goals

Safeguarding Openness

Safeguarding Balance and Accuracy in Risk Messages

Fostering Competence

Risk Communication in Crisis Conditions

Content of Risk Messages

Relating the Message to the Audiences' Perspectives

Handling Uncertainty

Comparing Risks

Ensuring Completeness

A Consumer's Guide to Risk and Risk Communication

Research Needs

1 Introduction

THE NEW INTEREST IN "RISK COMMUNICATION"

Requirement for or Desire by Government to Inform

Desire to Overcome Opposition to Decisions

Desire to Share Power Between Government and Public Groups

Desire to Develop Effective Alternatives to Direct Regulatory Control

A NEW DEFINITION OF RISK COMMUNICATION

RISK MESSAGES AS PART OF THE RISK COMMUNICATION PROCESS

SUCCESSFUL RISK COMMUNICATION

NOTES

2 Understanding Hazards and Risks

TOWARD QUANTIFICATION OF HAZARDS

KNOWLEDGE NEEDED FOR RISK DECISIONS

Information About the Nature of Risks and Benefits

Information on Alternatives

Uncertainties in Knowledge About Risks and Benefits

Information on Management

Other Relevant Knowledge

GAPS AND UNCERTAINTIES IN KNOWLEDGE

Identification of Hazards

Estimation of Exposure

Estimation of the Probability of Harm

Identification of Synergistic Effects

SCIENTIFIC JUDGMENT AND ERRORS IN JUDGMENT

Inappropriate Reliance on Limited Data

Tendency to Impose Order on Random Events.

Tendency to Fit Ambiguous Evidence into Predispositions

Tendency to Systematically Omit Components of Risk

Overconfidence in the Reliability of Analyses

INFLUENCES OF HUMAN VALUES ON KNOWLEDGE ABOUT RISK

Choices of Numerical Measures for Risk

Values and the Attributes of Hazards

IMPLICATIONS FOR RISK COMMUNICATION

3 Conflict About Hazards and Risks

IS RISK INCREASING OR DECREASING?

It Is the Safest of Times

It Is the Riskiest of Times

Understanding the Conflict

CHANGES IN THE NATURE OF HAZARDS AND IN KNOWLEDGE ABOUT THEM

Increased Understanding of Human Influence on Hazards

Worsening Worst Cases

Unintended Side Effects

Changing Portfolio of Hazards

CHANGES IN U.S. SOCIETY

Increasing Affluence

Increasing Dependence of the Economy on Technology

Distrust of Institutions

The Environmental Movement

New Public Institutions

POLITICIZATION OF THE TECHNOLOGICAL DEBATE

Concepts of Regulation

Tort Law

Regulatory Procedures

Politically Potent Symbolic Events

Increased Focus on Science in Technological Debates

Institutionalization of Scientific Conflict

IMPLICATIONS OF CONFLICT FOR COMMUNICATION

Differential Knowledge

Vested Interests

Value Differences

Mistrust of Expert Knowledge as Interest Serving

Note for Risk Message Designers

4 Purposes of Risk Communication and Risk Messages

SETTINGS OF RISK COMMUNICATION

Public Debate

Personal Action

INFORMATION AND INFLUENCE: THE PURPOSES OF RISK MESSAGES

Information

Influence

Highlighting Facts

"Framing" Information and Decisions

Risk Comparisons

Persuasive Use of Facts

Appeals to Authority

Appeals to Emotion

USE OF INFLUENCE TECHNIQUES IN RISK COMMUNICATION

Achieving Balance

Achieving Influence

Influence and Personal Action.

Influence and Public Debate

5 Common Misconceptions About Risk Communication

EXPECTATIONS REGARDING RISK COMMUNICATION

Communication, Conflict, and Management

BELIEFS ABOUT THE FUNCTIONING OF THE PROCESS

Adequacy of the Scientific Information Base

Agreement as to the Meaning of Existing Information

Interpretation of Public Attitudes and Information Needs

STEREOTYPES ABOUT INTERMEDIARIES AND RECIPIENTS

Journalists and the News Media

The Attraction of Decisive Answers

NOTE

6 Problems of Risk Communication

PROBLEMS DERIVING FROM THE INSTITUTIONAL AND POLITICAL SYSTEM

Legal Considerations

Statutory Prescriptions and Proscriptions

Liability

Informed Consent and Right-to-Know

Sharing of Power

Fragmentation

Dispersion of Responsibility

Incentives to Gain Leverage

Difficulty in Determining Responsibility for Outcomes

Imbalanced Access to Information

Systematic Interests and Biases

PROBLEMS OF RISK COMMUNICATORS AND RECIPIENTS

Establishing and Recognizing Credibility

Real or Perceived Advocacy of Unjustified Positions

Reputation for Deceit, Misrepresentation, or Coercion

Contradiction of Previous Positions

Self-Serving Framing of Messages

Contradictory Messages from Other Sources

Professional Incompetence and Impropriety

Legal Standing

Justification of Communication Campaigns

Access of Affected Parties to the Decision-Making Process

Fair Review of Conflicting Claims

Making Messages Understandable

Unfamiliar Language

Unfamiliar Magnitudes

Insensitivity to Psychological Needs of the Recipient

Preparing Messages with Few Data and No Time

Responding in an Emergency

Communicating on the Basis of Incomplete Information

Capturing and Focusing Attention

Stimulating Recipient Interest.

Interacting with the News Media and Other Intermediaries

Getting Information

Authorities Who Do Not Listen or Respond

Difficulties in Finding Trusted Sources of Information

SUMMARY

7 Recommendations for Improving Risk Communication

MANAGEMENT OF THE PROCESS

Effective Dialogue

Early and Sustained Interaction

The Empowerment Problem

Safeguarding Balance and Accuracy in Risk Messages- Preventing Real and Perceived Distortion

Accountability

Independent Review

Message Preview

Written Document

Fostering Competence-Making Risk Communication Smarter

Assessment of Audience

Specialized Talent

Scientific/Technical Accuracy and Completeness

Evaluation and Feedback

Role of Intermediaries

Some Notes on Handling Risk Communication in Crisis Conditions

THE CONTENT OF RISK MESSAGES

Personal Relevance

Clarity

Respect for the Audience and Its Concerns

Use of "Influence Strategies"

A CONSUMER'S GUIDE TO RISK AND RISK COMMUNICATION

Project Support

Project Management

Content of the Guide

RESEARCH NEEDS

Risk Comparison

Risk Characterization

Role of Message Intermediaries

Pertinency and Sufficiency of Risk Information

Psychological Stress

Recipients' "Mental Models"

Risk Literacy

Retrospective Cases

Contemporaneous Assessments of Risk Cases

Appendixes

Appendix A Background Information on Committee Members and Professional Staff

COMMITTEE MEMBERS

PROFESSIONAL STAFF

Appendix B Bibliography

Appendix C Risk: A Guide to Controversy

FOREWORD BY THE COMMITTEE

PREFACE

CONTENTS

I INTRODUCTION

USAGE

SOME CAUTIONS

II THE SCIENCE.

WHAT ARE THE BOUNDS OF THE PROBLEM?

The Causal Model

The Fault Tree

Materials and Energy Flow Diagrams

A Risk Analysis Checklist

WHAT IS THE HARD SCIENCE RELATED TO THE PROBLEM?

Judgments of Risk

Judgments of Values

Refining Common Sense

Informing People About Risks

Risk-Taking Propensity

Protective Behavior

ADHERENCE TO ESSENTIAL RULES OF SCIENCE

HOW DOES JUDGMENT AFFECT THE RISK ESTIMATION PROCESS?

Acknowledging the Role of Judgment

Diagnosing the Role of Judgment

Assessing the Quality of the Judgment

How Good Are Expert Judgments?

Sensitivity to Sample Size

Hindsight

Judging Probabilistic Processes

Judging the Quality of Evidence

III SCIENCE AND POLICY

SEPARATING FACTS AND VALUES

Values Shape Facts

Facts Shape Values

MEASURING RISK

Which Hazards Are Being Considered?

Definition of Risk

Dimensionality of Risk

Summary Statistics

Bounding the Technology

Concern

MEASURING BENEFITS

Definition of Benefit

Expressed Preferences

Revealed Preferences

IV THE NATURE OF THE CONTROVERSY

THE DISTINCTION BETWEEN "ACTUAL" AND "PERCEIVED" RISKS IS MISCONCEIVED

LAYPEOPLE AND EXPERTS ARE SPEAKING DIFFERENT LANGUAGES

LAYPEOPLE AND EXPERTS ARE SOLVING DIFFERENT PROBLEMS

DEBATES OVER SUBSTANCE MAY DISGUISE BATTLES OVER FORM, AND VICE VERSA

LAYPEOPLE AND EXPERTS DISAGREE ABOUT WHAT IS FEASIBLE

LAYPEOPLE AND EXPERTS SEE THE FACTS DIFFERENTLY

V STRATEGIES FOR RISK COMMUNICATION

CONCEPTS OF RISK COMMUNICATION

SOME SIMPLE STRATEGIES

Give the Public the Facts

Sell the Public the Facts

Give the Public More of What It Has Gotten in the Past

Give the Public Clear-Cut, Noncontroversial Statements of Regulatory Philosophy

Let the Marketplace Decide

Put Risk Managers on the Firing Line.

Involve Local Communities in Resolving Their Own Risk Management Problems.

Notes:

Includes bibliography (p. 309-319) and index.

ISBN:

9786610214778

9781280214776

1280214775

9780309568326

0309568323

9780585001937

0585001936

OCLC:

42328486