CAN YOU PREDICT DISASTER?
RESEARCH STUDY INVESTIGATING RISK PERCEPTION, 2017
THE BEHAVIOURAL SCIENCE TEAM AT THE ESRI (IE)
An interactive exhibit that lets you take part in science (as well as learning about it). The Behavioural Science Team at the ESRI (Economic and Social Research Institute) have prepared a real research study that will run throughout the course of IN CASE OF EMERGENCY; they are interested in finding out how different people predict all sorts of catastrophes. Visitors will be given the opportunity to (anonymously) volunteer their best guesses about the likelihood of different types of catastrophe, from viruses gone wild to asteroids hitting Earth. This study will help the team to better understand how humans process risk and think about catastrophes. At the end of the exhibition, they will analyse and publish their results as a scientific paper.
BIO
The Behavioural Science Team at the ESRI is a team of psychologists and behavioural economists who conduct research studies that provide evidence for policy. They carry out experimental studies and field trials to understand how people make decisions, how people’s decisions are affected by the way information is provided, such as marketing practices, and whether policy interventions can help. Currently, they are working on applying behavioural insights to areas as diverse as consumer decision-making, pensions, health, and the environment. Deirdre Robertson and Pete Lunn created this study for IN CASE OF EMERGENCY to find out more about how we all may perceive or misperceive risk.