Slovic, Paul

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Open Access
Modeling the societal impact of fatal accidents
(1984) Slovic, Paul; Lichtenstein, Sarah; Fischhoff, Baruch
Open Access
Rating the risks
(Environment: Science and Policy for Sustainable Development, 1979) Slovic, Paul; Fischhoff, Baruch; Lichtenstein, Sarah
The management and regulation of high-risk technologies need to be based on an understanding of the ways in which people think about risk. Without such understanding, well-intended laws and policies may be ineffective, or even counterproductive. To this end, recent studies of risk perception have examined the opinions people express when they are asked, in various ways, to characterize and evaluate hazardous activities and technologies. This research aims to aid risk analysis and societal decision making buy (i) improving methods for eliciting opinions about risk, (ii) providing a basis for understanding and anticipating public responses to hazards, and (iii) improving the communication of risk information among laypeople, technical experts, and policy makers. This paper describes the results of these studies and examines their implications for risk assessment.