In 2014, the Annenberg Public Policy Center opened an area of study in the Science of Science Communication, to investigate how scientific evidence can be more effectively conveyed to the public. This research looks at the failure to dispel public controversy over such issues as climate change, vaccinations, and genetically modified organisms (GMOs) despite the presence of valid, compelling and widely accessible scientific evidence. “There’s a persistent gap between expert knowledge of scientific issues and public perception on myriad issues,” APPC director Kathleen Hall Jamieson said. “Through empirical testing, we will examine ways to close this gap and separate the issues in communicating science from the evidence that is being presented.” This research builds on past APPC projects such as the dissemination of media guidelines for suicide coverage, and the Annenberg Health Communication wiki, a site to help professional health communicators make better use of state-of-the-art social science. Current projects include the Annenberg Science Knowledge survey on issues of importance such as Zika virus, genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and vaccination, and the Science Media Monitor, which analyzes news coverage of science to increase public understanding of the scientific process.
Science of Science Communication
How Conspiracy Theorists Exploited Covid-19 Science
Throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, conspiracy theorists have exploited the conditional nature of science and questioned the trustworthiness and motives of federal agencies and officials to depict scientists and health authorities as malign actors.
Penn Centers Create Guide for Treating and Preventing Covid-19
The Annenberg Public Policy Center and Penn’s Center for Public Health Initiatives have partnered on a guide to key facts and answers to important questions about Covid-19 and vaccination.
Mandates Likely Work to Increase Vaccine Uptake
Rather than causing a backlash, vaccination requirements will succeed at getting more people inoculated, according to research from PIK Professor Dolores Albarracín and Penn colleagues.
Heavy Users of Conservative Media More Willing to Take Ivermectin for Covid-19
Four in 10 Americans and 7 in 10 heavy users of conservative media say they'd take ivermectin if exposed to someone with Covid-19, a new Annenberg survey finds.
COVID-19 Risk, Prevention and Treatment
The "Guide for Understanding How to Protect Yourself and Your Community" from COVID-19 offers valuable information about the disease and its origin, transmission, virulence, prevention and treatments.
Misplaced Trust: When Trust in Science Fosters Pseudoscience
People who trust science are more likely to believe and disseminate false claims using scientific references - pseudoscience - than people who don't trust science, a study finds.
Public Trust in CDC, FDA, and Fauci Holds Steady, Survey Shows
The top U.S. health agencies retain the trust of the vast majority of the American public, as does Dr. Anthony Fauci, the public face of U.S. efforts to combat the virus, according to a new APPC survey.
Jamieson Named to NAS Strategic Council for Research Excellence, Integrity, and Trust
APPC Director Kathleen Hall Jamieson has been named to a new National Academy of Sciences' council that will explore challenges "to the integrity and health of the research enterprise."