The Role of Online Communication in Building Confidence in Medical Knowledge

With online media, and especially with the offerings of the “web 2.0” or “social web”, the relation of experts and laypersons changes in public communication on scientific information: new arenas of knowledge transfer emerge on the internet (e.g. expert public sphere, collaborative public sphere, personal public sphere). Using the example of medical information, the question is pursued which role the different communication arenas take in building confidence in medical knowledge. By means of group discussions with cancer patients and their relatives and a representative survey it is examined how medical laypersons build confidence in medical knowledge with the help of various information and communication offerings, and which indicators and recipient-related and situational factors affect this confidence.

Supplementary case studies are planned for a follow-up project in order to examine the specific mechanisms of selection and presentation of medicinal knowledge, as well as users’ situational dealings with such online-based arenas.

The project is a part of the DFG’s (German Research Foundation) special priority programme “Science and the General Public: Understanding Fragile and Conflicting Scientific Evidence” (SPP 1409).