Doctoral Dissertation Research in DRMS: Investigating the Role of Identities and Opinion Leadership on Risk Information Seeking and Sharing about Polarizing Issues

身份认同，特别是意见领导，可能在激励风险信息寻求和分享两极分化问题方面发挥重要作用。本案例研究涉及对意见领袖的深度访谈，这些意见领袖代表了纽约州马塞勒斯页岩拟议天然气钻探的不同观点。这项工作在纽约州北部的三个县进行，那里可能会进行天然气钻探。重点是人们如何处理一个潜在的复杂信息情况——一个由无数关于对自己、他人和环境的风险的信息组成的情况——以及人们为什么分享信息。这些发现对那些处理可能导致社会或公共政策两极分化的话题的专业传播者，以及那些工作可能成为两极分化公共辩论中心的科学家都有启示。这项研究确定了鼓励人们收集、采取行动和分享有关天然气钻探等有争议问题的信息的呼吁，着眼于在做出明智决定时参与各种信息，并对公众参与和参与产生影响。

Identities, specifically opinion leadership, may play an important role in motivating risk information seeking and sharing about polarizing issues. This case study involves in-depth interviews with opinion leaders representing various perspectives on proposed natural gas drilling in New York State's Marcellus Shale. The work takes place in three upstate New York counties where gas drilling may occur. The focus is on how people negotiate a potentially complex information situation -- one that consists of myriad messages about risks to self, others, and the environment -- and on why people share information. The findings have implications for professional communicators who work with topics that have potentially polarizing social or public policy implications, and for scientists whose work may become the center of a polarizing public debate. This research identifies appeals that encourage people to gather, act on, and share information about contentious issues such as natural gas drilling, with an eye toward engaging with a variety of messages in making an informed decision and with implications for public engagement and participation.