Part of the study protocol involves iterative design and selection of a single infographic from among multiple alternatives to be used in the primary trial.
Vaccine infographic trial#
Specifically, we have proposed a randomized, controlled superiority trial comparing an infographic about the scientific process to a placebo infographic in terms of trust in science and scientists, reported believability of misinformed narratives about COVID-19, and behavioral intentions to engage in Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)-recommended prevention behaviors. īased on recent studies, our research team is currently investigating the potential for an intervention designed to improve public trust in science and scientists to serve as a possible approach for easily disseminated misinformation prophylaxis. Such approaches have been used, for example, in addressing anti-vaccination narratives. An alternative approach, often described as inoculation theory, focuses on interventions occurring prior to exposure to new misinformation. In addition, ethical concerns reasonably can be raised regarding attempts to restrict access to public speech. For example, efforts to “fact check” or restrict access to misinformed narratives risk being counterproductive. Prevention of COVID-19 misinformation uptake, as well as public health misinformation in general, is an important, but complex, area of research.
These narratives can spread very quickly and have been associated, directly and indirectly, with harmful outcomes as well as reduced personal wellness. The nature of this misinformation has ranged from clearly conspiratorial and misinformed, such as the idea that 5G cell towers spread COVID-19, to conceptually possible but implausible narratives about the origins of the disease and motivations underlying preventive public health efforts. Misinformation about coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has spread widely, pervasively, and rapidly following the emergence of the disease.
Vaccine infographic full#
Given equivocal believability outcomes, and after examining confidence intervals for data on trust in science and then the qualitative responses, we selected infographic 3, which addressed issues of credibility and consensus by illustrating changing narratives on butter and margarine, as the best candidate for use in the full study. No iatrogenic outcomes were observed for within-group changes in trust in science. Resultsĭata indicated that all infographics were perceived to be believable, with means ranging from 5.27 to 5.97 on a scale from one to seven.
Each arm viewed a different infographic and provided both quantitative (narrative believability scale and trust in science and scientists inventory) and qualitative data to assist the research team in identifying the infographic most likely to be successful in a larger study. Study participants (n = 100) were recruited from Amazon’s Mechanical Turk and randomized to five different arms. Five separate concepts were developed based on underlying subcomponents of ‘trust in science and scientists’ and were turned into infographics by media experts and digital artists. This study describes the iterative process of selecting an infographic for use in a large, randomized trial related to trust in science, COVID-19 misinformation, and behavioral intentions for non-pharmaceutical prevenive behaviors.
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