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dc.contributor.advisorLåg, Torstein
dc.contributor.authorNerva, Erik Yngvar
dc.date.accessioned2014-05-05T11:03:08Z
dc.date.available2014-05-05T11:03:08Z
dc.date.issued2012-05-02
dc.description.abstractNumerical probabilities representing health risks or treatment benefits are constantly communicated to the general public. These probabilities are often embedded in contextual information in the form of a personal patient narrative or newscasts. Previous research suggest that people’s perceptions of risk will be greater when probability information is communicated along with contextual information. In this study, we hypothesized that the presence of contextual information, in the form of a televised newscast, would increase the participant’s perception of risk of side effects of the swine flu vaccine. Participants (N = 75) were presented with information about the side effects of the swine flu vaccine. Approximately half the Norwegian population chose to get vaccinated in 2009. We explored how the presence or absence of contextual information and numerical probabilities affected the perception of risk. The participants reported substantially increased risk perceptions when contextual information was present. In its absence, participants reported relatively low perceptions of risk. These results clearly indicate a potential gap in how probability information is presented and the recipient’s assessment and perception of it. The under- or overestimation of probability information has important implications for medical decision-making.en
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10037/6182
dc.identifier.urnURN:NBN:no-uit_munin_5875
dc.language.isoengen
dc.publisherUniversitetet i Tromsøen
dc.publisherUniversity of Tromsøen
dc.rights.accessRightsopenAccess
dc.rights.holderCopyright 2012 The Author(s)
dc.rights.urihttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0en_US
dc.rightsAttribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported (CC BY-NC-SA 3.0)en_US
dc.subject.courseIDPSY-3900en_US
dc.subjectVDP::Social science: 200::Psychology: 260::Cognitive psychology: 267en
dc.subjectVDP::Samfunnsvitenskap: 200::Psykologi: 260::Kognitiv psykologi: 267en
dc.titleHow does contextual information affect our understanding of numerical probabilitiesen
dc.typeMaster thesisen
dc.typeMastergradsoppgaveen


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Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported (CC BY-NC-SA 3.0)
Except where otherwise noted, this item's license is described as Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported (CC BY-NC-SA 3.0)