Datensatz

Zusammenfassung

Abstract: Science is present in all dimensions of laypeople’s everyday lives and serves as a basis for decisions. However, scientific topics such as climate change are very complex, abstract and uncertain – thus for laypeople difficult to understand. Mass media act as significant mediators between science and lay audiences. Much empirical research exists about the relations between media use and knowledge as well as attitudes towards science. Nonetheless, statistical proof for these correlations is often missing. A main reason for that can be seen in insufficient theoretical examinations of ‚knowledge‘ and measurement problems. This article tries to address these issues by focusing on how knowledge can be conceptualised and operationalised in empirical studies. Five different dimensions of knowledge about climate change are discussed: knowledge about (1) causes, (2) basics and (3) effects of climate change as well as (4) climate-friendly behavior and (5) the procedures of the climate sciences. Different theoretical concepts of knowledge, ignorance and misinformation in combination with the dimension of (un)certainty/confidence are introduced. Using empirical data from an online survey about climate change, the consequences of different response formats and scales are illustrated and discussed.