Recasting risk and scientific discourse: Dialectical message designs on food safety issues

This study explores and analyzes the dynamics of discourse about risk and scientific uncertainty, particularly as it pertains to issues of food safety such as pesticide residues on food, bovine growth hormones, and food irradiation. It argues that the heightened public consciousness over what constitutes safety and health risks necessitates a dialectical discourse that pulls in differing perspectives and provides a space for critical analysis, informed decision making, and action within the limits of available knowledge.;The design of risk messages is vital to fostering dialectical discourse on risk and in the processing of risk information. A field experiment was conducted in order to explore the impact of dialectical cues in risk and food safety messages on cognitive and affective responses to food safety issues.;The experiment used an extended 3 x 3 Latin Square Experimental Design in order to control for the ordering effects of subject matter, message types, and respondent characteristics. Three types of science-based messages on food irradiation, bovine growth hormone, and pesticide residues on food were constructed. The questionnaire used consisted of a pre-test section and three successive post-test sections. Participants were randomly selected and asked to respond to three types of message treatments, each on a different issue.;Results of the analysis of variance showed strong support for four key hypotheses in the experiment. Evidence was found for the significant effects of dialectical messages on critical thinking, understanding of food safety issues, and overall perception of complexity of food safety issues. Persuasive messages were found to have significant effects on heuristic thinking. The subject matter and personal attributes of the respondents generally did not have any significant effects. No support was found for the effects of dialectical messages on overall concern about food safety and perceived difficulty in making decisions about food safety issues.