Decision Research Faculty Works

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Browsing Decision Research Faculty Works by Author "Axelrod, Lawrence J."

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    Characterizing perception of ecological risk
    (1995) McDaniels, Timothy; Axelrod, Lawrence J.; Slovic, Paul
    Relatively little attention has been paid to the role of human perception and judgment in ecological risk management. This paper attempts to characterize perceived ecological risk, using the psychometric paradigm developed in the domain of human health risk perception. The research began by eliciting a set of scale characteristics and risk items (e.g., technologies, actions, events, beliefs) from focus group participants. Participants in the main study were 68 university students who completed a survey instrument that elicited ratings for each of 65 items on 30 characteristic scales and one scale regarding general risk to natural environments. The results are presented in terms of mean responses over individuals for each scale and item combination. Factor analyses show that five factors characterize the judgment data. These have been termed: impact on species, human benefits, impact on humans, avoidability, and knowledge of impacts. The factor results correspond with initial expectations and provide a plausible characterization of judgments regarding ecological risk. Some comparisons of mean responses for selected individual items are also presented.
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    Perceptions of ecological risk from natural hazards
    (1999) Axelrod, Lawrence J.; McDaniels, Timothy; Slovic, Paul
    This study examines lay perceptions of ecological risk (risk to the health and productivity of natural environments) associated with natural hazards. Ratings of 30 specific characteristics influencing risk judgments and one general risk assessment were obtained from 68 survey respondents for five natural hazards, as well as 28 technologically based hazards. Analyses revealed that the set of natural hazards, on average, were perceived to pose a moderate degree of ecological risk, similar to the set of technological hazards. However, perceptions of natural hazards differed greatly from technological hazards in terms of numerous risk characteristics. In general, natural hazards were seen as having less impact on ecosystems and on species, offering less benefits to human society, having less impact on humans, and being far less avoidable. Additional comparisons are reported, and implications for risk management and communication are discussed.