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.
Research Findings
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.
Use of Cell Phones While Driving May Be Tied to Other Risky Road Behaviors in Young Adults
Young people who use cell phones while driving are also more likely to engage in other risky driving behaviors, new research from Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and the Annenberg Public Policy Center finds.
How News Coverage Affects Public Trust in Science
News stories about scientific failures that do not recognize the self-correcting nature of science can damage public perceptions of trust and confidence in scientific work, a study finds.
Treating the Covid-19 ‘Infodemic’ as an Epidemic
In the New England Journal of Medicine, science communication researchers from APPC and Critica propose to treat the Covid-19 “infodemic” with the methods used to halt epidemics.