Casby, Shea (2022) The effects of communicating uncertainty on the intention to share scientific information on social media. Bachelor thesis, Psychology.
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Abstract
Uncertainty is inherent in all scientific knowledge but is often not communicated to the public. This communication of scientific knowledge increasingly utilises social media due to its powerful capability to spread information. In this study we explored what happens when uncertainties surrounding scientific findings are explicitly stated, specifically the effect this has on the perception of trust towards the findings, and the ability of the findings to spread organically on social media through user sharing. Through an online survey we showed two versions of text containing information on COVID-19 vaccines to participants (n = 469), one containing uncertainty and one without. Statistical analysis showed that neither the information itself, nor the source of the information, was trusted differently when uncertainty was communicated, alongside no effect on the intention to share the information on social media. Both trust and the intention to share trended to increase when uncertainty was communicated. We also measured whether social media is a trusted outlet for disseminating scientific information by comparing it to two other channels of communication, a government website, and an online scientific journal. No significant difference in trust was found between the three outlets. Our results showed that scientists need not hide the uncertainty surrounding their research findings, and that this act of transparency may even support the reach and public trust of science.
| Item Type: | Thesis (Bachelor) |
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| Supervisor name: | Bles, A.M. van der |
| Degree programme: | Psychology |
| Differentiation route: | Other [Bachelor Psychology] |
| Date Deposited: | 14 Mar 2022 08:00 |
| Last Modified: | 14 Mar 2022 08:00 |
| URI: | http://gmwpublic.studenttheses.ub.rug.nl/id/eprint/310 |
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