GEOG306 Lecture Notes - Lecture 5: Coral Reef, Deep Plowing, Risk Perception

• School: University of Waterloo
• Department: Geography and Environmental Management
• Course: GEOG306
• Professor: Amber Silver

Document Summary

^ (how we perceive hazards dictates how we respond to them) Risk: the probability of a hazard occurring and creating loss. Risk as an objective variable: quantifiable and predictable. Duel risk thesis: an accurate and reasonably complete characterization of risk must refer both to the objective facts about the physical world and to value statements that do not refer to objective facts about the physical world . Duel risk thesis: in other words, risk is objective and subjective. Def: the subjective and intuitive evaluation of risk by the average lay person. If successful, [risk perception] research should aid policy-makers by improving the communication between them and the public, by directing educational efforts, and by predicting public responses to new technologies, events, and new risk management strategies. Paul slovic pioneered the psychometric model of risk perception research, which uses explanatory scales and multivariate analysis to quantify risk perception. Psychometric paradigm purports risk perception is both quantifiable and predictable.