Matthew C Nisbet

American University | AU · School of Communication

We review past studies on how scientists view the public, the goals of communication, the performance and impacts of the media, and the role of the public in policy decision-making. We add to these past findings by analyzing two recent large-scale surveys of scientists in the UK and US. These analyses show that scientists believe the public is unin...

Background The global expansion of biobanks has led to a range of bioethical concerns related to consent, privacy, control, ownership, and disclosure. As an opportunity to engage broader audiences on these concerns, bioethicists have welcomed the commercial success of Rebecca Skloot’s 2010 bestselling book The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. To a...

This research provides secondary data analysis of two large-scale scientist surveys. These include a 2009 survey of American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) members and a 2006 survey of university scientists by the United Kingdom's Royal Society. Multivariate models are applied to better understand the motivations, beliefs, and co...

Communication researchers and practitioners have suggested that framing climate change in terms of public health and/or national security may make climate change more personally relevant and emotionally engaging to segments of the public who are currently disengaged or even dismissive of the issue. To evaluate these assumptions, using a nationally...

If they want to make progress, researchers of genetically modified crops must give some ground to their opponents, says Matthew C. Nisbet

Science reporters today work within an evolving science media ecosystem that is pluralistic, participatory and social. It is a mostly online environment that has challenged the historically dominant and exceptional role of science reporters as privileged conveyers of specialist information to general audiences. We map this science media environment...

Between December 2009 and January 2010, we conducted a nationally representative telephone survey of US adults (n = 1001; completion rate = 52.9%) to explore perceptions of risks associated with peak petroleum. We asked respondents to assess the likelihood that oil prices would triple over the next 5 years and then to estimate the economic and heal...

The exchange of information between researchers, resource managers, decision makers, and the general public has long been recognized as a critical need in environmental science. We examine the challenges in using ecological knowledge to inform society and to change societal actions, and identify a set of options and strategies to enhance this excha...

Climate change is taking a toll on human health, and some leaders in the public health community have urged their colleagues to give voice to its health implications. Previous research has shown that Americans are only dimly aware of the health implications of climate change, yet the literature on issue framing suggests that providing a novel frame...

We used data from nationally representative surveys conducted in the United States, Canada and Malta between 2008 and 2009 to answer three questions: Does the public believe that climate change poses human health risks, and if so, are they seen as current or future risks? Whose health does the public think will be harmed? In what specific ways does...

American adults under the age of 35 have come of age in the decades since the “discovery” of man-made climate change as a major societal problem. The oldest of this cohort was twelve in 1988, when NASA climate scientist James Hansen testified at a Senate Energy Committee hearing that global temperature rise was underway and that human-produced gree...

In this essay, we review research from the social sciences on how the public makes sense of and participates in societal decisions about science and technology. We specifically highlight the role of the media and public communication in this process, challenging the still dominant assumption that science literacy is both the problem and the solutio...

Over the past 20 years, there have been dozens of news organization, academic, and nonpartisan public opinion surveys on global warming, yet there exists no authoritative summary of their collective findings. In this article, we provide a systematic review of trends in public opinion about global warming. We sifted through hundreds of polling quest...

As new media proliferate and the public's trust and engagement in science are influenced by industry involvement in academic research, an interdisciplinary workshop provides some recommendations to enhance science communication.

In this article, we review concepts, measures, and strategies that can be applied to opinion-leader campaigns on climate change. These campaigns can be used to catalyze wider political engagement on the issue and to promote sustainable consumer choices and behaviors. From past research, we outline six relevant categories of self-designated opinion-...

The growth and integration of social science research on climate change will be facilitated by careful, consistent measurement of its central constructs. In this pa-per, the relevant psycho-social literature is reviewed, with an eye toward enhanc-ing the quality of measurement. We find that risk perception, a focus of much climate change research,...

This article is a consensus statement by an international interdisciplinary group of academic experts and Canadian policy-makers on emerging ethical, legal and social issues in human embryonic stem cells (hESC) research in Canada. The process of researching consensus included consultations with key stakeholders in hESC research (regulations, stem c...

Using the contemporary debate in the United States over embryonic stem cell research as a test case, we outline a theoretical framework that points to the central impact of value predispositions, schema, political knowledge, and forms of mass media use in shaping public perceptions of science. In the process, by proposing an alternative approach to...

To engage diverse publics, scientists must focus on ways to make complex topics personally relevant.

This study uses the contemporary debate over agricultural biotechnology to conceptualize a theoretical model that can be used to explain how citizens reach judgments across a range of science and technology controversies. We report findings from a mail survey of New York State residents that depicts a ‘low information’ public relying heavily on heu...

The leadership of volunteers offers a unique relationship in contrast to the leadership of waged workers, therefore, effective and appropriate leadership of volunteers is critical. While the literature offers a clear picture of the elements, including leadership discussion of the actual daily workplace practices of leaders of volunteers is sparse.T...

In this study, analyzing nationally represented survey data collected in 2003, we consider the roots of issue-specific citizen participation in the controversy over embryonic stem cell research and therapeutic cloning. Building on past research, we pay particular theoretical attention to the role of issue engagements, the impact of church-based rec...

Power in policy making revolves in part around the ability to control media attention to an issue while framing an issue in favorable terms. These two characteristics of media coverage both reflect and shape where an issue is decided,by whom,and with what outcomes. In understanding this process, a number of studies have observed cyclical waves in m...

This article explores the impact of the mass media on public support for civil liberties restrictions in the months following the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. In contrast to previous research on rally-round-the-flag phenomena in times of crisis that relied mostly on phenomenon-driven, descriptive work, we interpret the effects of Septembe...

When it comes to public opinion about controversial issues related to science and technology, many policy makers and scientists assume that increased public understanding of science will lead to increased public support. Yet, instead of a fully informed and deliberative public, past research indicates that it is more likely that the public by natur...

Despite numerous and strong claims regarding the impact of the Internet on civic engagement, there has been limited empirical inquiry into the topic. In order to redress this gap, using survey data from the 2000 American National Election Study (ANES), we test the effects of Internet campaign exposure on political efficacy, political knowledge, and...

In this study, we develop a model of the interplay between sociostructural determinants of an individual's discussion behavior, such as the setting of primary discussion networks ( work, church, and volunteer groups) and the nature of discussion (i.e., level of exposure to non-like-minded ideas), and individual-level outcomes, such as hard news med...

Few science and technology-related issues have sparked as much survey attention as the public controversy ov er human embryonic stem cell research and therapeutic cloning. Interest groups, advocates, and policymakers on both sides of the debate have taken advantage of poll results to support their claims that the public backs their preferred policy...

Scholars agree that extreme anti-American sentiment is pervasive across the predominantly Muslim countries of the world, but disagree about the sources of these negative perceptions. Some researchers point to cultural, religious, and value divisions as primary factors shaping negative perceptions of the United States, while others emphasize interna...

Nature Biotechnology journal featuring biotechnology articles and science research papers of commercial interest in pharmaceutical, medical, and environmental sciences.

Recently, there has been a focus on religion as an essential catalyst for political participation and renewed civic engagement. Various claims share the common assumption that religion promotes the essential components of political participation including motivation, recruitment, and ability. Using survey data from the 2000 National Election Study,...

Applying the theories of agenda building and frame building and previous work related to the shared negotiations between sources and journalists in constructing news dramas, this article examines the role of the mass media in the evolution of the stem cell controversy. How does a scientific issue gain, maintain, or lose political and media attentio...

This study introduces a media effects model specific to public perceptions of science and technology. Analysis of the National Science Board's Science and Engineering Indicators Survey provides evidence that different media—newspapers, general television, science television, and science magazines—do affect perceptions differently. These media effec...

This study compares the impact of various types of traditional and Web-based forms of communication on political efficacy, knowledge, and participation. Findings suggest that the role of the Internet in promoting citizenship is limited. In fact, respondents who used the Web frequently for entertainment purposes were less likely to feel efficacious...

This study compares the impact of various types of traditional and Web-based forms of communication on political efficacy, knowledge, and participation. Findings suggest that the role of the Internet in promoting citizenship is limited. In fact, respondents who used the Web frequently for entertainment purposes were less likely to feel efficacious...

The authors present a quantitative content analysis of biotechnology-related coverage appearing in the New York Times and Newsweekbetween 1970 and 1999, examining patterns of media attention and evaluating the source impact of various political and social actors on the themes, frames, and tone of coverage. Although media attention to biotechnology...

Can the Internet reverse faltering levels of American civic engagement and fos- ter greater levels of political participation? History suggests that claims regard- ing the contributions of new communication technologies to the maintenance and vitality of the public sphere are often little more than intellectual chewing gum: they taste great at firs...

The interconversion of the desmotroposantonins is discussed.

Reduction products of the 6-epimer (I) of santonin (II) are described, and their stereochemistry is discussed.

Artemisin (I), of known stereochemistry, has been related to tetrahydroalantolactone (II).

Reduction products of the 6α(H)-epimer (I) of 11β(II)-santonin (II) are described and their stereochemistry is discussed.

Several tetrahydroalantolactones have been inter-related, and their stereochemistry is here discussed.