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Using Social Representations Theory to Make Sense of Climate Change: What Scientists and Nonscientists in Australia Think

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dc.contributor.author Moloney, Gail
dc.contributor.author Leviston, Zoe
dc.contributor.author Lynam, Timothy
dc.contributor.author Price, Jennifer
dc.contributor.author Stone-Jovicich, Samantha
dc.contributor.author Blair, Duncan
dc.date.accessioned 2015-03-30T18:57:00Z
dc.date.available 2015-03-30T18:57:00Z
dc.date.issued 2014 en_US
dc.identifier.uri https://hdl.handle.net/10535/9683
dc.description.abstract "The mass media has ensured that the challenging and complex phenomenon of climate change now has the household familiarity of a brand name. But what is it that is understood by climate change, and by whom? What frame of reference is drawn upon to communicate meaningfully about climate change? Do particular subgroups within our society hold different understandings, or have the debate and the prolific dissemination of information about this issue coalesced around a core perception or image of what climate change is? To answer these questions, we conceptualized climate change within the theory of social representations as emergent socially constructed knowledge. We analyzed word association data collected in Australia from persons identifying as having a scientific, government, or general public background (N = 3300). All respondents were asked to write the first words that came to mind when they thought about climate change. Comparative analyses of the word associations reveal that respondents from different backgrounds define climate change in different ways. The results suggest that there is a common core set of concepts shared by the different groups, but there are also a great many differences in how climate change is framed and conceived by respondents. The results are discussed in relation to what they imply for responses to climate change by these social groups and in relation to interventions designed to encourage climate adaptation." en_US
dc.language English en_US
dc.subject adaptation en_US
dc.subject climate change en_US
dc.title Using Social Representations Theory to Make Sense of Climate Change: What Scientists and Nonscientists in Australia Think en_US
dc.type Journal Article en_US
dc.type.published published en_US
dc.type.methodology Qualitative en_US
dc.coverage.region Pacific and Australia en_US
dc.coverage.country Australia en_US
dc.subject.sector Global Commons en_US
dc.identifier.citationjournal Ecology and Society en_US
dc.identifier.citationvolume 19 en_US
dc.identifier.citationpages Art. 19 en_US
dc.identifier.citationnumber 3 en_US
dc.identifier.citationmonth September en_US


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