An empirical study of civic epistemologies: How policy-makers use uncertainty information

What is the probability that stocks of water, gas, gritting salt, or STEM-profiles on the labour market will run out, and should the government act now in response? Uncertainty constitutes a major challenge for policy makers to act on scientific evidence but little is known about the effects of uncertainty communication on evidence use. This project is an interdisciplinary collaboration between scholars in epistemology, public management, and evidence-informed policy making. Using Jasanoff´s concept of civic epistemologies, we empirically test how the expression of uncertainty and the format of uncertainty communication affect the use of such evidence by policy makers, and how this is moderated by the magnitude of uncertainty. We use cutting-edge research methods, such as eye-tracking and simulations of opinion dynamics, which have only seldom been applied in the context of evidence utilization. These methods enable us to get a fine-grained look into different degrees of evidence use, ranging from visual attention for uncertainty evidence, to actual use in decision-making.

Keywords:information use, evidence-based policy, science communication, civic epistemologies, uncertainty

Disciplines:Public management, Organisation of information and knowledge resources, Epistemology, Science and health communication