Katherine E. Rowan

Goals, obstacles, and strategies in risk communication: A problem‐solving approach to improving communication about risks

Abstract Research in the field of risk communication, the study of communication about uncertain physical hazards, has chiefly focused on enhancing understanding of risk concepts or making the development of risk management policy more democratic. For risk communication to be effective, a third focus is also necessary: risk communicators need an understanding of communication as a problem solving process. To facilitate this understanding, this paper offers a framework for analyzing risk communication situations and developing messages to use in those situations. The paper discusses four goals frequently pursued by risk communicators: creating awareness about the existence of important phenomena, enhancing understanding of complicated ideas, developing agreement about policy options, and motivating action. Obstacles to these goals and strategies for achieving them are identified in a diverse set of literatures.

The technical and democratic approaches to risk situations: Their appeal, limitations, and rhetorical alternative

Because of the increasing number of “man-made” hazards in contemporary life, as well as the growing number of disastrous industrial accidents, interest in risk communication has burgeoned. Consequently, scholars and practitioners need to understand two of the more common responses to risk situations, the technical and democratic. This paper describes these two responses, identifies types of individuals likely to prefer each, and explains why, historically and sociologically, they are so intuitively compelling for many people. Arguing that both responses to risk situations are ultimately unconducive to rational discourse, the paper identifies problematic assumptions about communication that underlie both. The paper then sketches an alternative model of risk communication that recognizes the distinct features of communication in risk-ridden situations, describes ways in which communicators can identify characteristic tensions and goals in these situations, and specifies how to use research-supported heuristics for diagnosing the principal obstacles to their communicative goals and selecting the best strategies to address these obstacles.

A Contemporary Theory of Explanatory Writing.

Explaining difficult concepts to lay readers is an important discursive goal, and yet frequently the quality of explanatory writing is poor. One reason for this poor quality is that the discursive form itself is not well understood. Some studies have identified textual features of effective explanations; however, theoretical characterizations of explanatory discourse are either unnecessarily narrow or overly general. Consequently, this essay offers a new theory of explanatory discourse that is intended to guide analyses of and stimulate improvements in explanations designed for mass audiences. The theory defines explanatory discourse in terms of a particular goal; promoting understanding for lay readers of some phenomenon. This goal is distinguished from those of promoting awareness of new information, proving a claim, or encouraging agreement with a claim. The utility of the theory is demonstrated by showing how it (1) identifies those research literatures most relevant to improving the quality of written explanations, (2) organizes existing findings on explanatory effectiveness in a way that resolves controversies in the literature, and (3) suggests principles for pedagogy pertaining to explanatory writing.

Are Social-Cognitive Ability and Narrative Writing Skill Related?

Rubin, Piché, Michlin, and Johnson (1984) recently presented data allegedly demonstrating a substantial relationship between social-cognitive ability and narrative writing skill. Certain theoretical and statistical considerations led us to suspect that the claimed relationship was not actually present in the data reported by Rubin et al. Consequently, two empirical studies were conducted to test for the hypothesized relationship between social-cognitive ability and narrative writing skill, one study reanalyzing data reported by Rubin et al. and the second analyzing original data. The results of the two studies indicate no relationship between social-cognitive ability and rated quality of narrative essays. These findings are discussed in terms of a theoretical model of the relationships among cognitive abilities, discourse aims, and discourse models.

When Simple Language Fails: Presenting Difficult Science to the Public:

Explanatory tools such as simple words, examples, and analogies are ineffective for overcoming an important obstacle to understanding science. This obstacle is that many fundamental scientific principles are counterintuitive (e.g., people resist wearing seat belts partly because scientific notions of inertia are counterintuitive). To assist science writers in presenting science news and concepts, this article identified 1) three major difficulties lay readers often have in understanding science, 2) the kinds of ideas readers find counterintuitive, 3) ineffective approaches for explaining these notions, and 4) effective strategies that help people understand these difficult ideas and their implications for health and safety.

The implicit social scientist and the implicit rhetorician: An integrative framework for the introductory interpersonal course

This paper describes a basic interpersonal communication course structured from two central metaphors: people are implicit social scientists and people are implicit rhetoricians. These metaphors provide a framework for conceptualizing basic interpersonal processes, integrating the often diverse topics covered in the interpersonal course, and linking theoretical concerns to practical interpersonal communication skills.

New Examples Improve Understanding of Story Types.

Good examples are a fundamental resource for every journalism teacher. We all update and refine our collections of outstanding stories, clever leads, and blooper headlines. Journalism textbooks entertain readers and teach reporting with hundreds of powerful stories and story segments. But even with this reliance on examples, we have little time to develop guidelines and procedures for their most effective use. Consequently, we can benefit from research that offers such guidance. This article describes findings from two fields that suggest ways to use examples more effectively in teaching. Studies in instructional design and composition instruction show that when students are introduced to a new form of writing (e.g., the hard news story, the feature, the editorial, etc.), they are most likely to understand the purpose and key features of the new form if instructors (a) define its critical and variable attributes, (b) illustrate its critical features with a set of stories identical in goal and content but variant in approach or quality, and (c) engage students in problem-solving analysis of these sets.