Science Communication of Hazards with Scientific Uncertainty: In the Cases of Volcanic Activity

2016 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 707-719 ◽  
Author(s):  
Miwa Kuri ◽  
◽  
Keyword(s):  
Natural Disasters ◽  
Volcanic Activity ◽  
News Media ◽  
Science Communication ◽  
Scientific Communication ◽  
Scientific Uncertainty ◽  
Disaster Prevention ◽  
Cooperative System ◽  
Local Residents ◽  
Activity Information

This paper studies cases in Japan, focusing on information on volcanic activities as well as other natural disasters. This information is given as an example of scientific communication in times of scientific uncertainty when there is an urgent need for judgments. This paper also considers the usage of volcanic activity information by residents of Kuchinoerabu Island in 2015, from the time their volcano became active to when the island was fully evacuated. The results suggest that it is important not only to establish relationships with highly interested local residents as non-experts, residents who can communicate information, including uncertainties, but also to communicate information among experts, government bodies, and designated members the news media. It is also suggested that a cooperative system of geoparks that feature disasters and benefits would help the volcanic disaster prevention council.

scholarly journals “A matter of time”: Evidence-making temporalities of vaccine development in the COVID-19 media landscape

2021 ◽  
pp. 0961463X2110322
Author(s):  
Mia Harrison ◽  
Kari Lancaster ◽  
Tim Rhodes
Keyword(s):  
Knowledge Production ◽  
News Media ◽  
Science Communication ◽  
Development Time ◽  
Vaccine Development ◽  
Efficacy And Safety ◽  
Calendar Time ◽  
Public Science ◽  
Communication Practices ◽  
Epistemic Object

This article investigates how evidence of the safety and efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines is enacted in news media via a focus on the temporality of vaccine development. We argue that time constitutes a crucial object of and mechanism for knowledge production in such media and investigate how time comes to matter in vaccine evidence-making communication practices. In science communication on vaccine development, the vaccine object (along with the practices through which it is produced) undergoes a material-discursive shift from an imagined “rushed” product to being many years in the making and uninhibited by unnecessarily lengthy processes. In both these enactments of vaccine development, time itself is constituted as evidence of vaccine efficacy and safety. This article traces how time (performed as both calendar time and as a series of relational events) is materialized as an affective and epistemic object of evidence within public science communication by analyzing the material-discursive techniques through which temporality is enacted within news media focused on the timeline of COVID-19 vaccine development. We contend that time (as evidence) is remade through these techniques as an ontopolitical concern within the COVID-19 vaccine assemblage. We furthermore argue that science communication itself is an important actor in the hinterland of public health practices with performative effects and vital evidence-making capacities.

Using Frames to Make Scientific Communication More Effective

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
James N. Druckman ◽  
Arthur Lupia
Keyword(s):  
Public Policy ◽  
Science Communication ◽  
Effective Communication ◽  
Scientific Communication ◽  
Political Polarization ◽  
Scientific Finding ◽  
Effective Science ◽  
The Impact

Science can serve as a valuable foundation for the making of public policy. For science to have this effect, it must be effectively communicated to individuals, organizations, and institutions. Effective science communication often involves frames that highlight particular aspects of a scientific finding or issue. This chapter discusses ways in which frames can be used to facilitate effective scientific communication—particularly we explore the impact of frames with regard to attention limitations, political polarization, and the politicization of science. We also highlight unanswered questions and challenges. The main lesson of this chapter is that there are certain conditions under which choosing particular frames yields more effective communication. While understanding these conditions does not guarantee success, it can help science communicators avoid common mistakes.

‘An Image of Hope in a Week of Despair’: Representations of Sam the Koala in the Australian Mainstream News Media

2014 ◽  
Vol 151 (1) ◽  
pp. 47-55 ◽  
Author(s):  
Clemence Due ◽  
Kirrilly Thompson ◽  
Danielle Every
Keyword(s):  
Natural Disasters ◽  
Thematic Analysis ◽  
News Media ◽  
Disaster Relief ◽  
Media Representations ◽  
Single Animal ◽  
International Attention ◽  
The Media ◽  
Animal Image

Natural disasters are events with far-reaching humanitarian implications that frequently receive international attention through the use of an image that comes to represent the disaster in question. The most successful images often comprise ‘identifiable’ and therefore human victims. What is more unusual is for a single animal image to become representative of an entire disaster. This was the case with the 2009 Victorian bushfires in Australia, when the image of a firefighter offering a koala a drink gained international fame. Given that this image of ‘Sam’ the koala does not conform to traditional disaster imagery, we undertook a thematic analysis of mainstream news media representations of Sam in order to identify how she was represented by the media. In this article, we discuss these themes in relation to the ‘identifiable victim’, together with the implications of Sam's success in terms of disaster-relief campaigns.

scholarly journals Geographies and Scientometrics of Research on Natural Hazards

Geosciences ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (10) ◽  
pp. 382 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adam Emmer
Keyword(s):  
Natural Disasters ◽  
Natural Hazards ◽  
Volcanic Activity ◽  
Web Of Science ◽  
Global Databases ◽  
Slope Movements ◽  
Different Types

This contribution aims to reveal patterns of research on natural hazards worldwide, based on the analysis of the Clarivate Analytics Web of Science database. A set of 588,424 research items published between 1900 and 2017 is analyzed, covering different types of natural hazards. Two categories of natural hazards are distinguished in this study: (i) geological/geomorphic (earthquakes, slope movements, erosion, volcanic activity, and others); and (ii) climatic/hydro-meteorological (floods, storms, drought, hurricane, and others). General trends, the geographical focus, and the involvement and cooperation between individual countries are revealed, pointing out certain patterns (e.g., hotspots of research) and trends (e.g., changing publishing paradigm). Further, a global overview of research on natural hazards is confronted with disastrous events, fatalities, and losses of MunichRE and SwissRE global databases of natural disasters.

Action Research on Bosai Map Cycle –Communications and Interactions Among Stakeholders Involved in Mapmaking Activities–

2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (6) ◽  
pp. 783-793
Author(s):  
Natsumi Okada ◽  
Katsuya Yamori ◽  
◽  
Keyword(s):  
Action Research ◽  
Disaster Management ◽  
Preparation Process ◽  
Disaster Prevention ◽  
Community Based ◽  
Activity Engagement ◽  
Entire Process ◽  
Complete Problem ◽  
Local Residents ◽  
Effective Use

In recent years, participatory bosai (disaster prevention) map creation activities have been gaining ground for the effective promotion of community-based disaster management. The participation of school-going children and local residents is a key feature of this map creation activity. Engagement is important for promoting ownership and the effective use of bosai maps. However, there still remains a “just make and complete” problem, even when a bosai map is successfully created in a participatory manner. In order to solve this issue, it is important to focus not only on the map, but also on the preparation process and the period after its completion. This study conceptualizes the entire process of bosai mapmaking as a “bosai map cycle.” The research was implemented in the manner of action research to deal with the practical issues we faced during school disaster education of bosai mapmaking, and is aimed at overcoming potential issues by activating the “bosai map cycle.” Consequently, diverse people were involved in bosai mapmaking, including local residents who were not previously involved in the process. It is important to carry out bosai map creation activities as a cycle of pre- and post-creation.

scholarly journals Our findings, my method: Framing science in televised interviews

2016 ◽  
Vol 26 (8) ◽  
pp. 986-1002 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rony Armon ◽  
Ayelet Baram-Tsabari
Keyword(s):  
News Media ◽  
Science Communication ◽  
Expert Advice ◽  
Erving Goffman ◽  
The Public ◽  
News Stories ◽  
Current Affairs ◽  
Personal Accounts ◽  
News Interview ◽  
A Current

The public communication of science and technology largely depends on their framing in the news media, but scientists’ role in this process has only been explored indirectly. This study focuses on storied accounts told by scientists when asked to present their research or provide expert advice in the course of a news interview. A total of 150 items from a current affairs talk show broadcast in the Israeli media were explored through a methodology combining narrative and conversation analysis. Using the concept of framing as originally proposed by Erving Goffman, we show that researchers use personal accounts as a way of reframing news stories introduced by the program hosts. Elements of method and rationale, which are usually considered technical and are shunned in journalistic reports, emerged as a crucial element in the accounts that experts themselves provided. The implications for framing research and science communication training are discussed.

Status and Analysis on Cognition and Handling Ability of Natural Disasters in Nursing Undergraduates

2012 ◽  
Vol 610-613 ◽  
pp. 704-707
Author(s):  
Min Xu ◽  
Hong Xin ◽  
Chunshan Zhao ◽  
Na Zeng
Keyword(s):  
Natural Disasters ◽  
Natural Disaster ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Colleges And Universities ◽  
The Self ◽  
Disaster Prevention ◽  
The Future

Nursing undergraduate students are a reserve force for the rescue of natural disaster. Their abilities in self-cognition and response are supposed to be closely related to the development and perfection of them in moral and personality, and their attitude and quality when they are engaged in nursing work in the future. The questionnaire investigation demonstrated that the nursing undergraduate students understood the natural disaster cognition to some extent, but their understanding was limited and one-sided; the students’ abilities in the disaster cognition were influenced by sex, the cognition on nursing specialized responsibility, the self-role cognition and the deed to disaster reserve knowledge (P < 0. 05), indicating that they did not have a full ability to deal with a disaster independently. Therefore, nursing undergraduate students should be educated through various pathways and in different forms in colleges and universities to improve their cognition on the disaster prevention and handling ability.

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