Citizen perceptions of information flow around a nuclear facility: A study in risk communication
- Delgado Community Coll., New Orleans, LA (United States)
Responses of focus group members from the region around a Nuclear Facility provide the data for this qualitative study concerning citizen perceptions of available site information. Analyses of three of the focus group discussion questions and the answers they elicited showed a dominant perception among participants of insufficient easily available information about the site. These respondents also indicated that most of them obtain site information through mass media and hearsay, that many lack trust in the information they have and would trust only an independent entity to provide accurate information. A new area in communication studies, variously called environmental risk communication, risk communication and health risk communication, continues to evolve among those working in various allied disciplines, some far removed from communication. As science attempts to solve environmental problems caused by technological advances, this field acquires numerous practitioners. Some of these risk communication experts may however, be overlooking basic and necessary components of effective communication, because their expertise is in another discipline. One result of this can be communication breakdown in which those involved, assume that meaning is shared, when in fact the opposite is true. This paper seeks to clarify a necessary ingredient of effective interpersonal risk communication, using data obtained from citizens living around one of the nation`s nuclear facilities as an example.
- OSTI ID:
- 500824
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-9705100-; TRN: 97:012694
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: 22. annual conference of the National Association of Environmental Professionals, Orlando, FL (United States), 19-23 May 1997; Other Information: PBD: 1997; Related Information: Is Part Of Proceedings of the 22. annual conference of the National Association of Environmental Professionals; Daugherty, J.R. [ed.] [NOAA/NSSL, Boulder, CO (United States)]; PB: 1118 p.
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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