SGER: Public Information, Development Scenarios, and Public Deliberation in Nanoscience and Nanotechnology Policy

SGER：纳米科学和纳米技术政策的公共信息、发展情景和公共审议

• 批准号: 0418066
• 负责人: Jane Macoubrie
• 金额: $ 13.51万
• 依托单位: North Carolina State University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2004
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2004-02-15 至 2006-01-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0418066&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: SGER; Public; Information; Development; Scenarios

Public participation in technology policy decision-making is controversial, and that is especially true in the case of nanoscience and technology (NS&T). Productive citizen participation may integrate public concerns early in the technical specifications of nanotechnology development, contributing to a less contentious, more socially acceptable deployment and integration of the technology, but participation methods supported by rigorous research have only recently emerged. If we are to achieve a reasoned public dialogue on NS&T before the technologies are well developed, we need to know soon the best practices for a productive dialogue. Scientific advances in NS&T are made every day and products are already on the market. Enthusiasts are actively promoting scenarios such as nano-enhanced human biology while opponents hypothesize the worst-case scenarios. Learning how to effectively incorporate public participation is also urgent because NS&T policy is national-level policy with potentially enormous public impacts. While millions of citizens cannot reason together simultaneously, informed, reasoned consensus building requires reasoning together. Group interaction processes are inherently at the center of citizen deliberation. These processes must point toward problem solving rather than only expressing opinion. This SGER project would build on the research team's former and current NSF funding, adding new knowledge that would lead to immediate improvements in participation practices involving nanotechnology. The proposed research will begin immediately, building towards two pilot "best practices" Citizens Technology Forums, and incorporating new research outcomes of the team's past research. The project will use experimental issue groups, a national survey, and two CTFs to discover citizen perceptions of and content knowledge of nanotechnology using experimental issue groups (a focus group variant) and a national survey; discover effects of different risk frames in uninformed, moderately informed, and fully informed conditions, using both survey and dialogue data; learn citizen reactions to basic informational materials, and design those to maximize knowledge; respond to unanticipated citizen informational or focus needs (i.e., particular questions that might encourage the most productive dialogue) that can inform material design and conduct of participation processes on nanotechnology and avoid increasing citizen polarization; develop and carry out a best-practices nanotechnology consensus conference process design, with two representative groups of citizens; and identify additional process design changes needed in the future CTFs.The proposed project will produce the first random sample national survey of citizen perceptions and policy preferences on nanotechnology, and test an innovative means to conduct national-scale technology policy participation processes. The national survey, Experimental Issue Groups, and Citizens' Technology Forums will ensure representative participation by gender, age, SES, racial group, and educational status. The project will involve graduate and undergraduate students in collecting and analyzing data and in developing the briefing materials. The students may also be asked to contribute literature reviews.

公众参与技术政策决策是有争议的，尤其是在纳米科学和技术（NS T）的情况下。富有成效的公民参与可能会在纳米技术开发的技术规范早期整合公众关注的问题，有助于减少争议，更能为社会接受的技术部署和整合，但严格的研究支持的参与方法只是最近才出现。如果我们要在技术得到很好的发展之前就NS T进行合理的公众对话，我们需要尽快了解进行富有成效的对话的最佳做法。NS T的科学进步每天都在进行，产品已经上市。热衷者正在积极推动纳米增强人类生物学等方案，而反对者则假设最坏的情况。 学习如何有效地纳入公众参与也是迫切的，因为NS T政策是国家层面的政策，具有潜在的巨大的公众影响。虽然数百万公民无法同时一起推理，但建立知情、理性的共识需要一起推理。群体互动过程本质上是公民审议的中心。这些过程必须指向解决问题，而不仅仅是表达意见。这个SGER项目将建立在研究小组以前和现在的NSF资金的基础上，增加新的知识，这将导致涉及纳米技术的参与实践的立即改善。 拟议的研究将立即开始，建立两个试点“最佳实践”公民技术论坛，并纳入该小组过去研究的新研究成果。 该项目将使用实验问题组，一项全国调查，和两个CTF，以发现公民的看法和内容知识的纳米技术使用实验问题组（焦点小组变式）和国家调查;利用调查和对话数据，发现不同风险框架在不知情、适度知情和完全知情条件下的影响;了解公民对基本信息材料的反应，并设计这些材料以最大限度地提高知识;对未预料到的公民信息或重点需求作出反应（即，可能鼓励最富有成效的对话的具体问题），可以为材料设计和纳米技术参与过程的进行提供信息，避免增加公民两极分化;制定和执行最佳做法纳米技术共识会议过程设计，有两个代表性的公民群体;并确定未来CTF所需的其他工艺设计变更。拟议的项目将进行第一次随机抽样全国调查，调查公民对纳米技术的看法和政策偏好，并测试一种创新手段，以开展全国范围的技术政策参与进程。全国调查、实验问题小组和公民技术论坛将确保按性别、年龄、社会经济地位、种族群体和教育状况进行代表性参与。该项目将让研究生和本科生参与收集和分析数据以及编写简报材料。 学生也可能被要求提供文献综述。