The COVID-19 pandemic has been a rapidly emerging and continuously evolving scientific situation fraught with uncertainty. Psychologically, uncertainty about such health events causes anxiety for audiences of science communication (Furnham, 2017). Additionally, during such periods of emerging health crises, audiences without a clear understanding of the uncertainty inherent in scientific findings may develop distrust in science and be less willing to adopt evidence-based precautionary measures (Kreps and Kriner, 2020; Scheider et al, 2022). As such, more research is needed to understand scientific uncertainty and its impact on different audiences, including institutional decision-makers and the lay public. It is important that scientific uncertainty is communicated effectively and ethically to promote the best possible public health outcomes.
The goal of this Research Topic is to examine scientific uncertainty as it relates to human health. This includes its conceptualization by scientists and other stakeholders, its communication by various brokers, its perception by diverse audiences, and its effects on various outcomes such as trust, understanding, decision-making, and behavior. We are particularly interested in understanding what communication methods are more effective, both in general and for certain topics, situations, and audiences.
We encourage the submission of articles about communicating scientific uncertainty related to health topics including, but not limited to, pandemic disease. If articles are about climate or other environmental science topics, a connection must be made to their human health implications. Original Research, Systematic Review, Methods, Review, Mini Review, Hypothesis and Theory, Perspective, Community Case Study, Conceptual Analysis, and Brief Research Report article types will all be considered for this Research Topic.
Recent reviews of studies on the communication of scientific uncertainty about health topics (Ratcliff et al, 2022; Paek and Hove, 2020) highlight key questions in the field, including clarifying diverse conceptualizations of uncertainty and developing theories about how people process uncertainty, integrating insights from different research disciplines. Articles may address these and other questions in the field, such as the following:
• How has the COVID-19 pandemic changed practices for communicating scientific uncertainty?
• How do the politicization of science or other sociological phenomena affect scientific uncertainty communication and its reception?
• Are there differences in scientific uncertainty communication practices in health communication versus other fields?
• What are the goals of communicating scientific uncertainty?
• What are the potential indications or contraindications for communicating different levels of uncertainty in different situations or for different audiences?
• What are the differences in how scientists and other stakeholders conceptualize, perceive, and experience scientific uncertainty?
• What communication strategies help mitigate the negative effects of uncertainty on audiences?
• How does the communication of scientific uncertainty affect trust in science or contribute to the spread of scientific misinformation?
• How does the communication of scientific uncertainty influence the decision-making process of different audiences, including governments and other institutions making health policy decisions, or communities and individuals making health behavior decisions?
• In which situations are creative strategies like storytelling, data visualization, or film and video useful for communicating scientific uncertainty?
• How does tolerance of scientific uncertainty vary for different audiences (Hillen et al, 2017)?
• What factors moderate individuals’ responses to scientific uncertainty communication?
• What characteristics of communicators or communication platforms make them effective people or platforms for the communication of scientific uncertainty?
• How can communicators promote respect, empathy, and inclusivity in discussions about uncertain and emerging science?
The COVID-19 pandemic has been a rapidly emerging and continuously evolving scientific situation fraught with uncertainty. Psychologically, uncertainty about such health events causes anxiety for audiences of science communication (Furnham, 2017). Additionally, during such periods of emerging health crises, audiences without a clear understanding of the uncertainty inherent in scientific findings may develop distrust in science and be less willing to adopt evidence-based precautionary measures (Kreps and Kriner, 2020; Scheider et al, 2022). As such, more research is needed to understand scientific uncertainty and its impact on different audiences, including institutional decision-makers and the lay public. It is important that scientific uncertainty is communicated effectively and ethically to promote the best possible public health outcomes.
The goal of this Research Topic is to examine scientific uncertainty as it relates to human health. This includes its conceptualization by scientists and other stakeholders, its communication by various brokers, its perception by diverse audiences, and its effects on various outcomes such as trust, understanding, decision-making, and behavior. We are particularly interested in understanding what communication methods are more effective, both in general and for certain topics, situations, and audiences.
We encourage the submission of articles about communicating scientific uncertainty related to health topics including, but not limited to, pandemic disease. If articles are about climate or other environmental science topics, a connection must be made to their human health implications. Original Research, Systematic Review, Methods, Review, Mini Review, Hypothesis and Theory, Perspective, Community Case Study, Conceptual Analysis, and Brief Research Report article types will all be considered for this Research Topic.
Recent reviews of studies on the communication of scientific uncertainty about health topics (Ratcliff et al, 2022; Paek and Hove, 2020) highlight key questions in the field, including clarifying diverse conceptualizations of uncertainty and developing theories about how people process uncertainty, integrating insights from different research disciplines. Articles may address these and other questions in the field, such as the following:
• How has the COVID-19 pandemic changed practices for communicating scientific uncertainty?
• How do the politicization of science or other sociological phenomena affect scientific uncertainty communication and its reception?
• Are there differences in scientific uncertainty communication practices in health communication versus other fields?
• What are the goals of communicating scientific uncertainty?
• What are the potential indications or contraindications for communicating different levels of uncertainty in different situations or for different audiences?
• What are the differences in how scientists and other stakeholders conceptualize, perceive, and experience scientific uncertainty?
• What communication strategies help mitigate the negative effects of uncertainty on audiences?
• How does the communication of scientific uncertainty affect trust in science or contribute to the spread of scientific misinformation?
• How does the communication of scientific uncertainty influence the decision-making process of different audiences, including governments and other institutions making health policy decisions, or communities and individuals making health behavior decisions?
• In which situations are creative strategies like storytelling, data visualization, or film and video useful for communicating scientific uncertainty?
• How does tolerance of scientific uncertainty vary for different audiences (Hillen et al, 2017)?
• What factors moderate individuals’ responses to scientific uncertainty communication?
• What characteristics of communicators or communication platforms make them effective people or platforms for the communication of scientific uncertainty?
• How can communicators promote respect, empathy, and inclusivity in discussions about uncertain and emerging science?
