Characterization of mechanistic information about CoronaVirus in the public media and its effect on laypeople understanding

Leading team:

• Dr. Michal Haskel-Ittah
• Shanny Mishal

Project team:

• Daphna Azulai
• Neta Rahim

Brief

This project aims to characterize the way in which biological mechanisms are presented in public media and the way laypeople understand and evaluate such information; specifically mechanisms related to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The pandemic, and the vast amount of scientific and medical information associated with it, provides an opportunity to study the way in which information about biological mechanisms – information which is relevant to the everyday lives of all people – is presented and perceived by laypeople. This project has the potential to provide teachers, students, laypeople and scientists with tools for using and producing mechanistic information: an important step in bridging the gap between science and society.