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National Science Foundation Award #0551047

Doctoral Dissertation Research in Decision, Risk, & Management Sciences: Procedural Justice and Media Coverage of Public Engagement about Local Health and Environmental Risks

Investigator(s):

Katherine McComas (PI)

Sponsor:

Cornell University - State, NY 14853 6072555014

Start Date/Expiration Date

2006-03-15 to 2007-02-28 (amended 2006-03-06)

Awarded Amount to Date:

$6,000

Abstract: This dissertation project seeks to integrate research on procedural justice into how we understand the impact of media coverage on local public life, particularly local engagement related to health and environmental risks. Procedural justice has emerged in recent decades as a theoretically-grounded means of examining the fundamental human value of "fairness" in a range of settings. The core hypothesis of procedural justice research is that if an individual perceives that the process underlying a decision is fair, they are more likely to accept that decision, feel satisfied with the decision-maker, and undertake future action on behalf of the group within which the decision was made. Past media research has not sought to test whether various types and levels of media use are associated with fairness perceptions, despite substantial research demonstrating that fairness is an important contributor to individual attitudes towards civic leaders. The main focus on the research will be the collection and analysis of survey data from Upstate New York aimed at obtaining individuals' assessments of: local authorities' procedural and distributive fairness, local risk perceptions, external efficacy, trust, media-use patterns, and standard civic outcomes variables (e.g. level of local political participation and satisfaction with government). The survey will be complemented by interviews with Upstate journalists, qualitative consideration of local news content, and several social-psychological experiments involving the exposure of student samples to simulated media content about local environmental health risks. The project is meant to broaden the applicability of ongoing research using procedural justice to understand how traditional public meetings about risk affect participants' and non-participants' perceptions of government experts and officials. Understanding whether media use and attention is associated with media users' perceptions of authorities fairness should support the shaping of communication messages and strategies used for public engagement.

NSF Org:

SES - Division of Social and Economic Sciences

Award Number:

0551047

Award Instrument:

Standard Grant

Program Manager:

Robert E. O'Connor
SES Division of Social and Economic Sciences
SBE Directorate for Social, Behavioral & Economic Sciences

NSF Program(s):

DECISION RISK & MANAGEMENT SCI

Field Application(s):

Human Subjects

Program Reference Code(s):

COMMUNICATIONS PROGRAM, 9179

Program Element Code(s):

1321