Representations of Scientific Information

Short Description: This module investigates how different forms of presenting factual information influence people’s knowledge about, risk perception of an attitudes towards foxes. The results will be valuable for designing effective knowledge transfer tools, since attitudes and risk perception in the general public are crucial determinants for the success of conservation measures.

Methodological Details: First, participants were asked questions concerning their knowledge about, their risk perception of and their attitudes towards foxes in Germany. Then, participants were divided into eight treatment groups which differed in the type of leaflet the participants were given: 1) short fact sheet, 2) short fact sheet with photos, 3) short fact sheet with graphs, 4) short fact sheet with graphs and photos, 5) a full article, 6) a full article with photos, 7) a full article with graphs, and 8) a full article with graphs and photos. One year after treatment, participants were asked the same questions again, as well as additional control questions (e.g., whether they deliberately engaged with the topic apart from the treatment leaflet).

Contact	Year	Respondents	Dataset	Variables	Availability	Field	Method
Miriam Brandt, Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research (IZW) [E-Mail]	2016,2017	~2800	inno	fb0102, fc044, fc033, fc024, fa067, fa064, fa052, fc051, im_fue, fa051, fa061, finfo00, fc05, fa011, fb0103, fa016, fa066, fc054, fc042, fa013, fc015, fa03, fc031, fc045, finfo01, fc025, fc034, finfo04a, fc053, fuchs_split, fc043, fa055, fc013, fb0110, fb0105, fc041, fb0111, fb0104, fa054, fc012, fb0108, fc036, fc046, fa017, fc035, fc014, fb0109, fc032, fa012, finfo023, fa053, fa04, fb0106, finfo03, finfo022, fwhichgroup, fa063, finfo05a, finfo021, fa015, fa062, fb0107, fa014, finfo04, fc022, fc023, fc047, fc026, fc052, fc011, fa02, fc016, finfo05, fa065, fc021, fb0101	04/2019	Communication research	Experiment