Risk Communication: A Mental Models Approach

By M. Granger Morgan, Baruch Fischhoff, Ann Bostrom

Book Overview

People today must make decisions about many health, safety, and environmental risks. Nuclear power, HIV/AIDS, radon, vaccines, climate change, and emerging infectious diseases are just some issues that may face them in the news media, ballot box, or doctor's office. In order to make sound choices they need to get good information. Because their time is limited, that information has to be carefully selected and clearly presented. This book provides a systematic approach for risk communicators and technical experts, hoping to serve the public by providing information about risks. The procedure uses approaches from risk and decision analysis to identify the most relevant information; it uses approaches from psychology and communication theory to ensure that it is understood. This book is written in nontechnical terms, designed to make the approach feasible for anyone willing to try it. It is illustrated with successful communications, on a variety of topics.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0521002567
• ISBN13: 9780521002561
• Release Date: July 2001
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Length: 366 Pages
• Weight: 1.14 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 6.0" x 8.9"

Customer Reviews

Practical and well grounded in the literature -- a must own

This book is a "must own" for anyone who is interested in conveying risk information to members of the public. It lays out a cohert framework -- and more or less step-by-step instructions -- for identifying what information will be of greatest value to members of a target audience. It is the most useful book I have found thus far to guide my efforts to communicate complex health information to members of various publics.