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，尤其是意见领导力，可能在激励寻求和分享有关两极分化问题的风险信息方面发挥重要作用。这一案例研究涉及对代表对纽约州马塞卢斯页岩天然气钻探计划的不同观点的意见领袖进行深入采访。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。重点是人们如何协商潜在的复杂信息情况--一种由无数关于自身、他人和环境风险的信息组成的情况--以及人们为什么共享信息。这些发现对从事可能导致社会或公共政策两极分化的话题的专业沟通者，以及可能成为一场两极分化的公共辩论中心的科学家都有影响。这项研究确定了鼓励人们收集、行动和分享有关天然气钻探等有争议问题的信息的诉求，着眼于在做出明智决定时接触各种信息，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.