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bridges vol. 13, April 2007 / Pielke's Perspective by Roger Pielke mp3 download 
"If your baby has a fever, you go to the doctor. If the doctor says you need to intervene here, you don't say, "Well, I read a science fiction novel that told me it's not a problem." If the crib's on fire, you don't speculate that the baby is flame retardant. You take action". With this example Al Gore was not only advocating a particular course of action on climate change, he was also describing the relationship between science (and expertise more generally) and decision making. In Mr. Gore's analogy, the baby's parents (i.e. "you") are largely irrelevant to the process of decision making, as the doctor's recommendation is accepted without question. But anyone who has had to take their child to a doctor for a serious health problem or an injury knows that the interaction between patient, parent, and doctor can take a number of different forms. In my new book The Honest Broker: Making Sense of Science in Policy and Politics (Cambridge University Press), I seek to describe various ways that an expert (e.g., a doctor) can interact with a decision maker (e.g., a parent) in ways that lead to desirable outcomes (e.g., a healthy child). Experts have choices in how they relate to decision makers, and these choices have important effects on decisions but also the role of experts in society. Mr. Gore's metaphor provides a useful way to illustrate the four different roles for experts in decision making that are discussed in The Honest Broker. The Pure Scientist - seeks to focus only on facts and has no interaction with the decision maker. The doctor might publish a study that shows that ibuprofen is an effective medicine to reduce fevers. That study would be available to you in the scientific literature. The Science Arbiter - answers specific factual questions posed by the decision maker. You might ask the doctor what are the benefits and risks associated with ibuprofen versus acetaminophen as treatments for fever in children. The Issue Advocate - seeks to reduce the scope of choice available to the decision maker. The doctor might hand you a packet of a medicine and say "give this to your child." The doctor could do this for many reasons. The Honest Broker of Policy Options - seeks to expand, or at least clarify, the scope of choice available to the decision maker. In this instance the doctor might explain to you that a number of different treatments is available, from wait-and-see to taking different medicines, each with a range of possible consequences. Scholars who study science and decision making have long appreciated that efforts to focus experts only on the facts, and to keep values at bay, are highly problematic in practice. As noted scholar Sheila Jasanoff has written: "The notion that scientific advisors can or do limit themselves to addressing purely scientific issues, in particular, seems fundamentally misconceived." How might this occur in practice? Access to the full article is free, but requires you to register. Registration is simple and quick – all we need is your name and a valid e-mail address. We appreciate your interest in bridges. |
