Public attitudes to gene technology: the case of the MacGregor's® tomato

1997 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 167-183 ◽  
Author(s):  
Renato Schibeci ◽  
Ian Barns ◽  
Shona Kennealy ◽  
Aidan Davison
Keyword(s):  
Western Australia ◽  
Public Attitudes ◽  
Public Perceptions ◽  
Genetically Engineered ◽  
Gene Technology ◽  
Pilot Phase ◽  
Pilot Investigation ◽  
Computer Based

This paper reports the pilot phase of a three-year project, `Public perceptions of biotechnology', conducted in Perth, Western Australia. The purposes of this pilot investigation were (1) to develop a computer-based method for investigating public perceptions of biotechnology, and (2) to report the perceptions of four `interested publics' about the Flavr Savr™/MacGregor's® tomato, a genetically engineered tomato. By `interested publics' we mean members of groups who are not experts in the field, but have an interest because of their membership of the group. We developed a computer-based database of information about this tomato to stimulate, in interviews, respondents' articulation of their knowledge and perceptions of biotechnology. The database was a multimedia package, based on a HyperCard stack on a Macintosh PowerBook 180C, with information about the tomato in ten different categories. The data suggest that our methodology has the potential to provide a fruitful approach to exploring the background knowledges and perceptions of different publics.

Reality Asserts Itself: Public Opinion on Iraq and the Elasticity of Reality

2010 ◽  
Vol 64 (3) ◽  
pp. 443-479 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew A. Baum ◽  
Tim Groeling
Keyword(s):  
Public Opinion ◽  
Public Attitudes ◽  
Public Support ◽  
News Coverage ◽  
Public Perceptions ◽  
The Public ◽  
Sustained Change ◽  
Disaggregated Data ◽  
Original Survey ◽  
Over Time

AbstractPrevailing theories hold that U.S. public support for a war depends primarily on its degree of success, U.S. casualties, or conflict goals. Yet, research into the framing of foreign policy shows that public perceptions concerning each of these factors are often endogenous and malleable by elites. In this article, we argue that both elite rhetoric and the situation on the ground in the conflict affect public opinion, but the qualities that make such information persuasive vary over time and with circumstances. Early in a conflict, elites (especially the president) have an informational advantage that renders public perceptions of “reality” very elastic. As events unfold and as the public gathers more information, this elasticity recedes, allowing alternative frames to challenge the administration's preferred frame. We predict that over time the marginal impact of elite rhetoric and reality will decrease, although a sustained change in events may eventually restore their influence. We test our argument through a content analysis of news coverage of the Iraq war from 2003 through 2007, an original survey of public attitudes regarding Iraq, and partially disaggregated data from more than 200 surveys of public opinion on the war.

Electronic Medical Records and Public Perceptions

2013 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 38-57
Author(s):  
Tarik Abdel-Monem ◽  
Mitchel N. Herian ◽  
Nancy Shank
Keyword(s):  
Electronic Medical Records ◽  
Medical Records ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Public Attitudes ◽  
Public Perceptions ◽  
Deliberative Discussion ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Opinion Polls

Public attitudes about electronic medical records (EMRs) have been primarily gauged by one-time opinion polls. The authors investigated the impact of an interactive deliberative polling process on general attitudes towards EMRs and perceptions of governmental roles in the area. An initial online survey was conducted about EMRs among a sample of respondents (n = 138), and then surveyed a sub-sample after they had engaged in a deliberative discussion about EMR issues with peers and policymakers (n = 24). Significant changes in opinions about EMRs and governmental roles were found following the deliberative discussion. Overall support for EMRs increased significantly, although concerns about security and confidentiality remained. This indicates that one way to address concerns about EMRs is to provide opportunities for deliberation with policymakers. The policy and theoretical implications of these findings are briefly discussed within.

Issues in agricultural and environmental biotechnology: identifying and comparing biotechnology issues from public opinion surveys, the popular press and technical/regulatory sources

1997 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 233-245 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles Hagedorn ◽  
Susan Allender-Hagedorn
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Biotechnology ◽  
Public Perceptions ◽  
Genetically Engineered ◽  
Popular Press ◽  
Public Issues ◽  
The Public ◽  
Public Opinion Surveys ◽  
The Social ◽  
Genetically Engineered Foods ◽  
International Aspects

The formation of public perceptions of science is a very complex and problematic process, but a major factor is the information that is available and presented most frequently to the public. Issues of public concern over agricultural and environmental biotechnology were identified from opinion surveys, the popular press and technical/regulatory sources. A frequency index based on content analysis was used to rank issues within categories of genetically engineered foods, plants, animals and microorganisms; and the social/legal, risk assessment/regulation, science education and international aspects. These issues were compared to those similarly identified from scientific/regulatory sources. Results revealed that the scientific/regulatory communities have dealt primarily with one subset of issues (research oriented), while the public is largely concerned with a different subset (issues of ethics, safety and value). This paper describes each issue in detail, and the implications of the two subsets of issues are briefly discussed.

The Evolution of Public Perceptions of Adenauer as a Historic Leader: Test of a Mathematical Model of Attitude Change

1976 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 79-100 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. R. Boynton ◽  
Gerhard Loewenberg
Keyword(s):  
Attitude Change ◽  
Public Attitudes ◽  
Public Perceptions ◽  
Reciprocal Relationship ◽  
Political Leaders ◽  
Military Commander ◽  
Political Events ◽  
New States ◽  
Political Communities ◽  
A Minor

The frequent association of memorable political leaders with formative political events is the source of the classic dispute over whether great men make great events or whether the events are themselves the conditions of great leadership. The long controversy over the role of leaders in history has often fastened on periods of fundamental political change—the creation of new states, major wars, changes of regime. Washington, Bolivar, Cavour, and Nehru are studied as fathers of their countries, Lincoln and Churchill as great war leaders, Lenin and Mao as architects of major revolutions, Ataturk and DeGaulle as founders of new regimes.We are generally aware that such men, regardless of their personal distinctions, might well have escaped the notice of historians, had they lived in normal times; indeed each passed substantial periods of his life as a minor politician, local military commander, occasional writer, or unheeded prophet. We are also aware that the place of such men in history is the product of the interpretation—and reinterpretation—of succeeding generations of historians. On the other hand, we know relatively little about how these men were viewed by their leading contemporaries, less about the attitudes toward them of the general publics of their time, and almost nothing about the development of public attitudes toward them during their lifetime. Only with respect to the political leaders of our own time do we begin to have data which permits us to investigate the development of public perceptions of great leaders. In this way we can fill the gap in our knowledge of the complex and reciprocal relationship between historic political leaders and the members of their political communities who, in following them, gave them the possibility of shaping history.

scholarly journals Wrongful Convictions and Erroneous Acquittals: Applying Packer’s Model to Examine Public Perceptions of Judicial Errors in Australia

2021 ◽  
pp. 0306624X2110668
Author(s):  
Harley Williamson ◽  
Mai Sato ◽  
Rachel Dioso-Villa
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Justice System ◽  
Due Process ◽  
Crime Control ◽  
Public Attitudes ◽  
Social Attitudes ◽  
Public Perceptions ◽  
Process Models ◽  
Wrongful Convictions ◽  
Judicial Errors

The fallible nature of the criminal justice system continues to see judicial errors—that is, wrongful convictions and erroneous acquittals—undermine its integrity, efficacy, and legitimacy. Public perceptions of judicial errors are important contributors to criminal justice policy and reforms. The current study utilizes the 2016 Australian Survey of Social Attitudes (AuSSA) dataset to examine public attitudes toward judicial errors. It applies Herbert Packer’s crime control and due process models to understand how concerns around procedural safeguards and public safety are associated with public perceptions toward judicial errors. Packer’s model has been challenged by studies, which theorize that the models are not mutually exclusive. Yet, they have not been empirically tested in this context, which is a gap this study seeks to fill. Findings show that due process and crime control concerns shape public attitudes toward wrongful convictions and challenge the notion that Packer’s models be applied on a continuum.

Public Perceptions and Experiences of Cancelled Surgeries Due to COVID-19: Twitter Analysis (Preprint)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Waverley Y. He ◽  
Pooja Yesantharao ◽  
Darya Fadavi ◽  
Oluseyi Aliu
Keyword(s):  
Best Practices ◽  
Public Attitudes ◽  
Well Being ◽  
The United States ◽  
Public Perceptions ◽  
Public Understanding ◽  
Twitter Analysis ◽  
Waiting Periods ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Experience Pain

BACKGROUND Elective procedures throughout the United States have been deferred in order to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 and treat critically ill patients. The impact of such widespread cancellations on patient well-being is not well understood. OBJECTIVE In this study, we characterize collective perceptions and experiences related to cancelled surgeries due to COVID-19. METHODS The top 200 Twitter posts with the keyword “cancelled surgery” were collected and qualitatively analyzed to identify public attitudes, beliefs, and outcomes. RESULTS Patients whose surgeries have been cancelled experience pain and disease progression. Anger and despair arise from long waiting periods and insufficient communication with surgeons, whereas optimism derives from a willingness to reallocate resources for the wider public good. Disagreement with surgical prioritization may stem from gaps in public understanding regarding risk-stratification. CONCLUSIONS As elective cases resume, monitoring real-time developments in public opinion and consequences of deferred care will inform best practices in patient communication.

scholarly journals Not in My Back Yard: Public Perceptions and Terrorism

2018 ◽  
Vol 72 (1) ◽  
pp. 90-103 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nazli Avdan ◽  
Clayton Webb
Keyword(s):  
Public Attitudes ◽  
Public Perceptions ◽  
Terrorist Attacks ◽  
Online Experiments ◽  
Public Care ◽  
Terrorist Organizations ◽  
The Public ◽  
Threat Perceptions

Why does the public care more about some terrorist attacks than others? In recent years, there has been a wave of terrorist attacks carried out by similar terrorist organizations, but these attacks have produced disparate public responses. Existing research shows that terrorist attacks are more traumatic for people who live near terrorist targets, but this research cannot explain differences in public attitudes about attacks occurring in other countries. We argue that threat perceptions are shaped by the physical and personal proximity of terrorist attacks. The identities of the victims are rarely known. People impute the characteristics of victims based on the country where the attack occurred. These perceived identities determine the empathy people feel toward victims and affect perceptions of terrorist threats. People feel a greater sense of vulnerability when attacks occur near their borders. We test these arguments using a series of online experiments. We find that the location of the attack and the race and nationality of the victims drive threat perceptions.

scholarly journals Using Artificial Intelligence-enabled analysis of social media data to understand public perceptions of COVID-19 contact tracing apps (Preprint)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kathrin Cresswell ◽  
Ahsen Tahir ◽  
Zakariya Sheikh ◽  
Zain Hussain ◽  
Andrés Domínguez Hernández ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Public Attitudes ◽  
Public Perceptions ◽  
Media Analysis ◽  
Contact Tracing ◽  
Health Campaigns ◽  
Social Media Analysis ◽  
Public Health Campaigns ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Effective Public Health

UNSTRUCTURED We here report on an exploratory analysis of the suitability of AI-enabled social media analysis of Facebook and Twitter to understand public perceptions of COVID-19 contact tracing apps in the UK. We extracted over 10,000 relevant social media posts and analysed these over an eight month period, from 1st of March to 31st of October 2020. Overall, we observed 76% positive and 12% negative sentiments, and discuss how the government's decision to move from a centralised to a decentralised contact-tracing model is likely to have influenced sentiment trends. In doing so, we demonstrate how AI-enabled social media analysis of public attitudes in healthcare can help to facilitate the implementation of effective public health campaigns.

Electronic Medical Records and Public Perceptions

2015 ◽  
pp. 1987-2008
Author(s):  
Tarik Abdel-Monem ◽  
Mitchel N. Herian ◽  
Nancy Shank
Keyword(s):  
Electronic Medical Records ◽  
Medical Records ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Public Attitudes ◽  
Public Perceptions ◽  
Deliberative Discussion ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Opinion Polls

Public attitudes about electronic medical records (EMRs) have been primarily gauged by one-time opinion polls. The authors investigated the impact of an interactive deliberative polling process on general attitudes towards EMRs and perceptions of governmental roles in the area. An initial online survey was conducted about EMRs among a sample of respondents (n = 138), and then surveyed a sub-sample after they had engaged in a deliberative discussion about EMR issues with peers and policymakers (n = 24). Significant changes in opinions about EMRs and governmental roles were found following the deliberative discussion. Overall support for EMRs increased significantly, although concerns about security and confidentiality remained. This indicates that one way to address concerns about EMRs is to provide opportunities for deliberation with policymakers. The policy and theoretical implications of these findings are briefly discussed within.

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