Progress 02/16/01 to 09/30/06
Outputs
Consumer resistance to the use of biotechnology in agricultural systems has steadily increased in Europe and to some extent in the U.S. The major goals of this project were to develop a better understanding of the factors that influence consumer attitudes and perceptions, and to develop guidelines for consumer education designed to alleviate concerns about complex scientific and technological issues. This project, initiated in February 2001, had, as its objectives, the assessment of current public awareness, perceptions and attitudes toward agricultural biotechnology; the identification of factors that might influence consumer perceptions and attitudes and their relationship to, and effect on, consumer acceptance and purchase intent; development and testing of a model designed to be predictive of public acceptance and purchase intent toward biotechnologically produced products, and determine the effectiveness of specific message characteristics/information delivery
strategies aimed at enhancing public awareness and ability to make an informed purchase Project activities and accomplishments during the final year of the project include the following: 1. Completion of instrumentation manual for instructional model and skills assessment instruments funded through USDA Higher Education Challenge grant entitled, Developing an Instructional Model and Skills Assessment Instrument for Critical Thinking in Biotechnology. This grant project focused on developing and testing instructional materials designed to foster critical thinking about biotechnology on the past of students, as well as designing and validating instrumentation that measures critical thinking skills development within the specific domain of agricultural biotechnology. 2. Completion of research study focusing on international subjects' perceptions, knowledge and beliefs, as well as critical thinking disposition and skills, with respect to biotechnology. This data was collected in 2005 in
Russia, and has been accepted by the Journal of the Association for International Agricultural and Extension Educators. 3. Completion of a new study focusing on observational analysis of problem solving behavior within the context of genomics. Subjects were observed engaging in problem solving behavior with respect to a genetics issue. The Kirton Adoption Innovation Inventory was utilized to collect data on problem solving style, which will be compared to critical thinking disposition. This study has been submitted to the National Agricultural Education Research Conference, to be held in 2007.
Impacts
Key impacts of this project include discovery that critical thinking skill constructs can be influenced by instructional intervention, and that presenting biotechnology risks as well as benefits enhances credibility and trust on the part of subjects, as a function of public accountability, while presenting benefits alone does not. This will impact development of materials aimed at helping consumers make more informed decisions about this technology.
Publications
- Lundy, L. & Irani, T. (2007). in press. Media framing of agricultural biotechnology surrounding 9/11. In Mass Media and Terrorism. (T. Pludowski, Ed).
- Friedel, C. R., Irani, T., Rudd, R. D., Gallo, M., & Eckhardt, E. E. (2007). In press. Influence of overtly teaching for critical thinking on critical thinking skills of undergraduates in a college of agriculture. Journal of Southern Agricultural Education Research Conference.
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Progress 10/01/04 to 09/30/05
Outputs
This project, initiated in February 2001, ended its five year cycle on 9/2005, but is in the process if being extended for another calendar year. . During the past year, (CRIS reporting period 10-2004-9-2005) project activities and accomplishments included the following: 1. Completion of data analysis and development of research articles focused on full test of instructional model and skills assessment instruments funded through USDA Higher Education Challenge grant entitled, Developing an Instructional Model and Skills Assessment Instrument for Critical Thinking in Biotechnology. This grant project focuses on developing and testing instructional materials designed to foster critical thinking about biotechnology on the past of students, as well as designing and validating instrumentation that will measure critical thinking skills development within the specific domain of agricultural biotechnology. As such, this project directly extends from the experiment station
project, which is focused on consumer message strategies, and integrates the critical thinking construct and message acceptance within the educational domain. In 2005, this project yielded the following deliverables Analysis of data collected from pre-test post-test administration of instrumentation designed to assess critical thinking skills in the discipline specific context of biotechnology; Final project testing of seven web and CD-ROM based instructional course modules on biotechnology, and dissemination of results through presentation and publication in refereed proceedings and journals. New data collection and analysis focusing on international subjects perceptions, knowledge and beliefs, as well as critical thinking disposition and skills, with respect to biotechnology. This data was collected in 2005 in Russia, and will be presented at the Association for International Agricultural and Extension Educators in May, 2006. A new study focusing on observational analysis of problem
solving behavior within the context of genomics was initiated in 2005. Subjects were observed engaging in problem solving behavior with respect to a genetics issue. The Kirton Adoption Innovation Inventory was utilized to collect data on problem solving style, which will be compared to critical thinking disposition. 2. Research conducted this year continued to focus on the development of a conceptual model that incorporates accountability perceptions, components of trust and credibility into a predictive model of consumer decision making with respect to agricultural biotechnology. A second strand of research has looked at the influence of development of critical thinking skills on knowledge, attitudes and perceptions of biotechnology. Both efforts include development and testing of instrumentation, and evaluation of messages and education materials utilizing quasi-experimental methodology.
Impacts
Key impacts of this project include discovery that critical thinking skill constructs can be influenced by instructional intervention, and that presenting biotechnology risks as well as benefits enhances credibility and trust on the part of subjects, as a function of public accountability, while presenting benefits alone does not. This will impact development of materials aimed at helping consumers make more informed decisions aobut this technology.
Publications
- Sinclair, J, & Irani, T. (2005). (in press). The effect of public accountability on corporate trust and attitude toward marketplace advocacy advertising. Journal of Advertising.
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Progress 10/01/03 to 09/30/04
Outputs
This project focuses on the connections between risk perceptions, accountability and trust in public institutions and development and application of critical thinking skills with respect to controversial food technologies. The thesis is that risk perceptions of consumers are driven in part by accountability perceptions, i.e. the degree to which individuals hold accountable the institutions involved in biotechnology. Critical thinking comes into play in terms of the way in which consumers perceive information they are exposed to about biotechnology. Current research efforts have resulted in the following: A. In an experimental study examining the impact of exposure to various types of GM food labels, such as whether the label stated that GM ingredients were present or absent, whether the label stated a manufacturer product claim or indicated it was certified by the FDA and whether the message was strong or weak in terms of message salience on perceptions of the
accountability of government and industry, as well as attitude toward GM foods, results indicated that labeling message and salience did affect subject perceptions of government and industry accountability, which in turn impacted attitude toward purchase as well as global attitudes toward GM foods. Findings indicated that subjects perceived a stronger prescription/event accountability linkage when the label indicating that GM ingredients were present had strong salience and when the label indicating that GM ingredients were absent had weak salience. With respect to the effect of type of labels, findings showed that the manufacturer product claim label created stronger accountability perceptions that industry is concerned with regulating GM foods than the mandatory FDA certified label. A key implication of the study is that communicating to consumers about the commitment to regulation and the communication of governmental and industry efforts in this area may be an effective way to
achieve greater consumer support of controversial food technologies. B. In a second study focusing on advertising messages communicated to the public by biotechnology companies and organizations, it was found that organizations whose position in the marketplace depends on increasingly sophisticated technologies are using marketplace advocacy ads to promote acceptance of their products and the processes used to create them. It was hypothesized that for this type of advocacy advertising, (1) public accountability, a construct developed from previous research on advertising credibility and social-psychological theory, would predict corporate trustworthiness and (2) corporate trustworthiness and attitude toward the advertiser would predict attitude toward the ad. Two components of public accountability were significant predictors of corporate trustworthiness, and trustworthiness and attitude toward the advertiser predicted attitude toward the ad and additional measures of advertising
effectiveness.
Impacts
This project is designed to impact consumer understanding and attiiudes toward food technologies, focusing on the specfic case of biotechnology, and with a view toward improving consumers' ability to make more informed decisions.
Publications
- Sinclair, J, & Irani, T. (2005). (in press). The effect of public accountability on corporate trust and attitude toward marketplace advocacy advertising. Journal of Advertising.
- First Place International Gold Award for Educational Product, Association for Communication Excellence in Agriculture, Natural Resources, Life and Human Sciences (ACE), 2004 Critique and Awards program.
- Outstanding Educational Project Award, American Distance Education Consortium (ADEC), 2004 All-ADEC Meeting.
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Progress 10/01/02 to 10/01/03
Outputs
This project was initiated in February 2001. During the past year, (CRIS reporting period 10-2002-10-2003) project activities and accomplishments included 1. Finalization of development product and instrumentation and year one pilot testing completed with respect to USDA Higher Education Challenge grant entitled, Developing an Instructional Model and Skills Assessment Instrument for Critical Thinking in Biotechnology. This grant project focuses on developing and testing instructional materials designed to foster critical thinking about biotechnology on the past of students, as well as designing and validating instrumentation that will measure critical thinking skills development within the specific domain of agricultural biotechnology. As such, this project directly extends from the experiment station project, which is focused on consumer message strategies, and integrates the critical thinking construct and message acceptance within the educational domain. In 2003,
this project yielded the following deliverables 1. Finalization, including testing and evaluation, of quantitative and qualitative instrumentation designed to assess critical thinking skills in the discipline specific context of biotechnology; 2. Development, testing and finalization of a new critical thinking disposition instrument. 3. Finalization and evaluation of seven web and CD-ROM based instructional course modules on biotechnology. Final project post testing is currently underway, and final report and dissemination of results will take place in 2004. 4. Presentation and publication in refereed proceedings of results from the pilot testing phase involving assessment of student knowledge, perceptions and critical thinking skills and dispositions with respect to biotechnology. The manuscript has been revised, and is under review at the Journal of Agricultural Education. 5. Invited and contributed presentations on the project at the American Crop Sciences Association annual
meeting, the National Agricultural Education Research Conference annual meeting, the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communications annual meeting, the national AZ Conclave, the UF-CALS Teaching Symposium and other local venues. 2.Two new grants related to this project were applied for an awarded in 2003. 1. A UF Internalizing the Curriculum Project grant was awarded to develop a seventh web-based/CD-ROM module, entitled European Attitudes and Perceptions of Plant Biotechnology, which will be incorporated into an additional module component for the development portion of the project deliverables. In addition the grant will provide funds to acquire data on the critical thinking dispositions and attitudes toward plant biotechnology of European students. 2. A UF/CALS minigrant was awarded, funds from which will be used to add components to create the module outlined above. Research focused on consumer perceptions, attitudes and purchase intent with respect to
biotechnology was conducted throughout 2003, and yielded seven research articles, two of which are in press and five are under review at peer-reviewed journals.
Impacts
This project is designed to impact consumer understanding and attiiudes toward food technologies, focusing on the specfic case of biotechnology, and with a view toward improving consumers' ability to make more informed decisions.
Publications
- Irani, Tracy , Sinclair, Janas. (2003).The Effect of Labeling Genetically Modified Food on Perceptions of Accountability. Journal of Applied Communications. Status: Accepted - In Press
- Davis, Kristen , Payson, Kelly , Irani, Tracy (2003). Going Forward in Education on Agricultural Biotechnology: Extension's Role Internationally. Journal of International Agricultural and Extension Education. 2003. Status: Accepted - In Press.
- Lundy, Lisa , Irani, Tracy (2003). Framing Biotechnology: A Comparison of U.S. and British National Newspapers. Status: In review, Journal of Applied Communications.
- Ricketts, John , Irani, Tracy , Rudd, Rick , Gallo-Meagher, Maria (2003). Growing the Seeds of Change: The Effectiveness of Teaching for Critical Thinking in the Context of Plant Biotechnology. Journal of Agricultural Education. Status: - In Review
- Sinclair, Janas, Irani, Tracy . Public Accountability, Corporate Trust and Attitude toward Biotech Advocacy Advertising. 2003. Journal of Advertising. Status: - In Review
- Irani, Tracy, Sinclair, Janas . 2003. Consumer Perceptions of Trust, Risk and Credibility of Plant Biotechnology Advertising. Journal of Applied Communications. Status: - In Review
- Lundy, Lisa , Irani, Tracy A., Ricketts, John , Eubanks, Emily , Rudd, Rick , Gallo-Meagher, Maria , Fulford, Stephen 2002. A Mixed Methods Study of Undergraduate Dispositions toward Critical Thinking About Biotechnology. Journal of Agricultural Education. Status: - In Review
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Progress 01/01/02 to 12/31/02
Outputs
Research conducted this year has focused on the development of a conceptual model that incorporates accountability perceptions, trust and corporate credibility into a predictive model of consumer attitudes and purchase behavior with respect to agricultural biotechnology. A second strand of research has looked at the influence of development of critical thinking skills on knowledge, attitudes and perceptions of biotechnology. Both efforts include development and testing of instrumentation, and evaluation of messages and education materials utilizing quasi-experimental methodology. This project is proceeding on target, and testing of the instrumentation and models is on target for moving beyond the pilot testing phase next year. During the past year, project activities and accomplishments included the following: Initial baseline research conducted and development initiated with respect to USDA Higher Education Challenge grant entitled Developing an Instructional Model
and Skills Assessment Instrument for Critical Thinking in Biotechnology. This grant project focuses on developing and testing instructional materials designed to foster critical thinking about biotechnology on the past of students, as well as designing and validating instrumentation that will measure critical thinking skills development within the specific domain of agricultural biotechnology. As such, this project directly extends from the experiment station project, which is focused on consumer message strategies, and integrates the critical thinking construct and message acceptance within the educational domain. Research focused on consumer perceptions, attitudes and purchase intent with respect to biotechnology was conducted throughout 2002, and yielded the following products: Publication of an article entitled The Importance of Being Accountable: The Relationship between Perceptions of Accountability, Knowledge and Attitude toward Plant Genetic Engineering in Science
Communication. (This paper was also a top paper award winner at the Association for Educators in Journalism and Mass Communication's annual meeting.) Presentation of a poster entitled The Effect of Labeling of Genetically Modified Food on Perceptions of Accountability at the Association for Educators in Journalism and Mass Communication national convention. Presentation of a paper entitled Eye of the Beholder: An Experimental Study of Consumer Perceptions of Product Labeling Scenarios Associated with Genetically Modified Foods at the Southern Rural Sociology annual meeting. Acceptance of a paper to be presented at the American Academy of Advertising. Acceptance of a paper to be presented at the Southern Association of Agricultural Scientists annual meeting. Presentation of a breakout session on Communicating, Critical Thinking and Biotechnology at the Association for Communicators in Education annual meeting. Work was also completed on the Educational Initiative on Agricultural
Biotechnology for Florida Educators and Communicators web site, including the development of a series of fact sheets, jointly published on the site and in EDIS.
Impacts
It is expected that activities so far completed in this project will impact understanding of how consumers in the state perceive biotechnology, as well as how related constructs influence cognitive processing and decisionmaking. The extension into higher education as a result of the successfully funded USDA Challenge Grant will impact the educational setting, in terms of developing an instructional model that demonstrates how to develop critical thinking skill in a discipline-specific context. In addition, the project's deliverables will include a discipline specific critical thinking skills assessment intrument, a tool which will be the first of its kind, successful implementation of which will allow researchers to reliably measure critical thinking skills. development for the first time in a science area.
Publications
- Irani, T. A., Sinclair, J. E., & O'Malley, M. (2002). The importance of being accountable: The relationship between perceptions of accountability, knowledge, and attitude toward plant genetic engineering. Science Communication, 23(3), 25-42.
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Progress 02/16/01 to 12/31/01
Outputs
This project was initiated in February of this year with work on developing a comprehensive literature review designed to explore current work in this area and related constructs of trust, risk perception, science literacy and accountability perceptions with respect to biotechnology acceptance. Material from this literature review was incorporated into a proposal directed to the USDA Higher Education Challenge Grant competition. This proposal, entitled, 'Developing a Critical Thinking Instructional Model and Skills Assessment Instrument for Biotechnology', focused on developing and testing instructional materials designed to foster critical thinking about biotechnology on the part of students, as well as designing and validating instrumentation that will measure critical thinking skills development within the specific domain of agricultural biotechnology. As such, this project directly extends from the experiment station project, which is focused on consumer message
strategies, and integrates the critical thinking construct and message acceptance within the educational domain. This proposal was successful, generating $100,000 in external funds to be spent over the next two years. In addition, stage one, development and running of a series of consumer focus groups, was successfully initiated, using a representative sample of consumers in North Central and South Florida. Using standard models and methodologies, the focus groups collected data on current public awareness, perception and attitudes toward plant and animal agricultural biotechnology, as well as elicited consumers' perceptions, beliefs and evaluations of benefits and risks they associated with agricultural biotechnology. To assist in this effort, an undergraduate agricultural communications student was successfully mentored by the lead PI to apply for a University Undergraduate Scholars award of $2500. This student has assisted in data collection efforts, and will produce a research
article for the university's Journal of Undergraduate Research. After the New Year, focus groups will continue to be held in other geographical areas in the state, including the Tampa- St. Petersburg area and the Panhandle. Results have been used to develop and refine subsequent survey instrumentation, and it is expected this data will generate new research articles in 2002. Finally, progress was also made on developing and pilot testing a questionnaire survey instrument designed to identify factors that might influence consumer perceptions and attitudes and their relationship to, and effect on, consumer acceptance and purchase intent. Data from a pilot survey was analyzed and successfully developed into a series of conference papers, one of which won a top paper award at a national professional meeting, as well as was accepted for publication in the leading science communication journal.
Impacts
It is expected that activities so far completed in this project will impact understanding of how consumers in the state perceive biotechnology, as well as how related constructs influence cognitive processing and decisionmaking. The extension into higher education as a result of the successfully funded USDA Challenge Grant will impact the educational setting, in terms of developing an instructional model that demonstrates how to develop critical thinking skill in a discipline-specific context. In addition, the project's deliverables will include a discipline specific critical thinking skills assessment intrument, a tool which will be the first of its kind, successful implementation of which will allow researchers to reliably measure critical thinking skills development for the first time in a science area.
Publications
- Irani, T, Sinclair, J. & O'Malley, M. (2001). The Importance of Being Accountable: The Relationship Between Perceptions of Accountability, Knowledge and Attitude Toward Plant Genetic Engineering. Science Communication Journal, Vol. 23, No. 3, March 2002. In press.
- Irani, T, Sinclair, J. & O'Malley, M. (2001). Whom Do You Trust? The Influence of Culture, Gender and Geography on Consumer Perceptions of GMO Labeled Products. Journal of Agricultural Education and Extension. In review.
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