Life-worlds meet Life Science in Public Health and Social Measures - Anschubfinanzierung

Univiersität Wien

WU

In light of recent steady increase in science scepticism and distrust towards scientific communities surfacing during the COVID 19 -pandemic, this study focuses on difficult-to-reach life worlds and seeks to explain collective patterns of interpretations of scientific knowledge (knowledge subjectivation) and public health management measures. Scientific knowledge, which is, from the perspective of the citizens, a part of expert knowledge requires interpretation and translation to reach the targeted population. The project investigates these translations as a multi-step process between scientists, politics, the media, public health and its interpretations in different life worlds. It is the purpose of the study to understand and reconstruct dominant patterns of interpretation of science denial and scepticism. Furthermore, the study aims to explore the perspectives of science sceptics on scientific results (mathematical models) and public health and social measures in highly solution-oriented discussions regarding the transformation of scepticism to compliance.

The project is funded by seed funding from the Vienna University of Economics and Business and the University of Vienna and will run until the end of May, 2022. LILI is based on interpretative social science methods in combination with mathematical modelling. In addition to developing a proposal for a continuing research project, initial field work is being carried out and first results are being elaborated and published.