RAPID: Testing Science Communication Strategies and Impact among Policymakers During a National Crisis

鉴于当前由COVID-19引起的危机的严重性，科学家向政策制定者传达他们对病毒传播、预防以及家庭面临的社会和经济后果的研究，可以说从未像现在这样重要。决策者获取和使用有关COVID-19的信息来源具有时间敏感性，这为研究有效的科学传播实践及其影响提供了独特的机会。本提案旨在利用和扩展基于理论的研究-政策协作（RPC）模式的最新成功，通过：(1)促进联邦和州决策者之间的科学沟通和传播，(2)研究改进科学传播策略的机制，(3)测试科学传播工作的影响和科学家与州和联邦决策者互动的附加价值。通过将有关当前国家危机的关键科学信息提供给能够采取行动的个人，以科学为基础的政策可能会改善受COVID-19危机影响的个人的生活。我们需要确定有效接触决策者的方法，并为能够产生社会影响的研究传播战略提供信息。科学信息通常需要十多年的时间才能用于决策。有效的研究传播方法有可能缩短这一时间范围，并改善革命性的前沿科学知识的社会影响。研究方法包括：(1)部署快速循环随机对照试验（RCT），检查大约3,500名联邦立法人员和州议员以及被确定为负责健康相关政策问题的工作人员传播COVID-19科学信息的电子邮件的打开率和点击率，以及(2)检查在法案语言和公开声明（例如新闻稿、社交媒体）中使用研究。联邦立法者将被随机分配到三个组：(i)传播+互动组，（ii）仅传播组和（iii）对照组。这种抽样策略建立在当前的一项研究的基础上，该研究调查了由主动RPC实现促进的国会与研究人员的互动。拟议的研究将调查科学传播作为这种互动方法的一个附加组成部分。州立法人员没有被指派通过活动RPC实现接收研究人员的交互。为了扩大时效性信息的覆盖面，分配到卫生相关委员会的75%的州议员将接受宣传，25%作为对照组。观察到的研究证据（URE）的使用将在法案语言和公开声明（包括社交媒体）中进行定量评估，基于先前工作中用于验证URE码本的语言。这包括在美国应对COVID-19之前的1年预测试期（大约2020年3月1日）和COVID-19首次爆发后的1年后测试期（2021年3月）。虽然文献表明，及时性和相关性对自然资源至关重要，特别是在危机时期，但需要研究来检查在这种危机时期科学传播和传播的影响。拟议的工作将通过前瞻性地评估加强证据使用的策略的影响来建立文献基础。重要的是，大多数关于URE在政策制定中的作用的研究都是回顾性的，要求决策者解释他们在制定政策时如何获取和使用研究结果。拟议的研究将成为URE领域的一笔巨大财富，因为它将：(1)提高对向联邦和州一级的决策者传达重要和可操作的科学证据的最有效机制的认识；(2)提高我们对实时科学传播和互动方法影响的理解。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Given the magnitude of the current crisis caused by COVID-19, it has arguably never been more important for scientists to communicate to policymakers their research on virus transmission, prevention, and social and economic consequences that families face. The time sensitive nature of policymakers’ acquisition and use of information sources regarding COVID-19 presents a unique opportunity to study effective science communication practices and their impact. This proposal aims to capitalize and expand upon recent successes of a theory-based model, the Research-to-Policy Collaboration (RPC), by: (1) facilitating science communication and dissemination among federal and state policymakers, (2) studying mechanisms for improving science communication strategies and (3) testing the impact of science dissemination efforts and added value of scientist interactions with state and federal policymakers. By getting critical scientific information regarding a current national crisis into the hands of individuals who can act on it, science-based policies may improve the lives of individuals affected by the COVID-19 crisis. We need to identify ways to effectively reach policymakers and inform research communication strategies that can achieve social impact. Scientific information often takes over a decade before it is used in decision making. Effective research dissemination approaches have the potential to shorten that time horizon and improve the societal impact of revolutionary, cutting-edge scientific knowledge.Study methods involve (1) deploying rapid-cycle randomized controlled trials (RCT) that examine open- and click-rates of emails that disseminate scientific information on COVID-19 to approximately 3,500 federal legislative staff and state legislators and staff who are identified as being assigned to health-related policy issues, and (2) examining the use of research in bill language and public statements (e.g., press releases, social media). Federal legislators will be randomly assigned to three groups: (i) dissemination + interactions, (ii) dissemination only, and (iii) control group. This sampling strategy builds on a current study investigating congressional-researcher interactions facilitated by an active RPC implementation. The proposed study will investigate science dissemination as an add-on component to that interactive approach. State legislators have not been assigned to receive researcher interactions via the active RPC implementation. To increase the reach of time-sensitive information, 75% of state legislators assigned to health-related committees will receive the dissemination and 25% serve as a control group. Observed use of research evidence (URE) will be quantitatively assessed in bill language and public statements, including social media, based on language that was used to validate a URE codebook in prior work. This includes a pre-test period of 1 year prior to US-based responses to COVID-19 (approximately March 1, 2020) and 1-year post-test period following the initial COVID-19 outbreak (March 2021). While the literature illustrates that timeliness and relevance are essential to URE, particularly in times of crisis, studies are needed to examine the impact of science communications and dissemination during such periods of crisis. The proposed work would build the literature base by prospectively assessing the impact of strategies for enhancing evidence use. Importantly, most studies of URE in policymaking have been done retrospectively by asking policymakers to explain how they access research and use it when developing policies. The proposed study will be a substantial asset for the URE field because it will: (1) advance knowledge of what mechanisms are most effective for conveying important and actionable scientific evidence to policymakers at both the federal and state levels and (2) improve our understanding of the impact of real-time science dissemination and interactive approaches.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.