Completed Research Project

Title / Titel
PDF
Expert and lay perception of health hazards associated with mobile phone base stations
Summary / Zusammenfassung
How lay people perceive risks associated with cell phones or base stations has been the subject of only a few published studies. A recent study from our research group suggests that trust and confidence strongly affect the acceptance of a base station in one's neighborhood. In a second study we found that, according to respondents’ assessments, power lines are the most risky source of EMF. Mobile phones and mobile phone base stations received lower risk ratings. Regarding risk regulation, a majority of respondents were in favor of using the worst-case scenario to determine limiting values. Our surveys, in short, have provided some knowledge about the risks perceived by lay people. However, we do not know what kind of mental models people have. That is, we do not know how, according to lay people’s beliefs, EMF negatively affects health. And we do not know how lay mental models differ from those of experts. More knowledge about these mental models is important for improving risk communication.
Our proposed research consists of three steps:
1.) Creating an expert model: We will interview 10 experts. Based on these interviews we will construct influence diagrams that show the association between EMF and health-related effects. This expert model will provide the groundwork for the mental model interviews with laypersons. The influence diagram, incorporating current scientific understanding of EMF related to base stations and mobile phones, will provide a standard against which public beliefs and attitudes can be compared.
2.) The expert model will provide the topics to be covered in the lay interviews. Semi-structured interviews with open-ended questions will be conducted. The answers will be tape-recorded and verbatim transcripts will be produced. Participants will be recruited from three different groups. One third of the participants (N=10) will be drawn from groups that have actively opposed new base stations. A group of another 10 people will consist of people who have expressed interest in possible health effects of base stations but who do not have strong convictions either against or in favor of mobile phone base stations. The other third (N=10) will represent the indifferent majority.
3.) Mental model interviews can produce a rich set of beliefs about risks. We would not know, however, how prevalent, in the general population, those beliefs were. We will use a mail survey, therefore, to determine the general prevalence of the beliefs and causal relationships uncovered in the qualitative part of out research. A questionnaire will be constructed based on lay people's mental models. The questionnaire will be sent to a random sample of about 1'200 persons in the German-speaking part of Switzerland. Based on past experience we expect to end up with a sample of about 500-600 persons who have returned completed questionnaires. The proposed research, therefore, combines qualitative and quantitative research approaches in order to maximize the generation of useful knowledge. Results of the proposed study should have strong implications for the practice of risk communication. We will know what concepts should be explained and what questions should be answered for effective risk communication within the context of mobile phones and EMF.
Keywords / Suchbegriffe
Risk perception, EMF, mental models
Project Leadership and Contacts /
Projektleitung und Kontakte
PD Dr. Michael Siegrist (Project Leader)siegrist@sozpsy.uzh.ch
Timothy, C. Earle, PhD 
Marie-Eve Cousin, lic. phil. 
Funding Source(s) /
Unterstützt durch
Foundation
 
Duration of Project / Projektdauer
Jun 2005 to May 2007

© Universität Zürich, 1. Juni 2007, Impressum