Journal
PUBLIC UNDERSTANDING OF SCIENCE
Volume 22, Issue 8, Pages 955-970Publisher
SAGE PUBLICATIONS LTD
DOI: 10.1177/0963662512447173
Keywords
consensus conference; deliberation; information seeking; Internet; mass media; nanotechnology; public engagement
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During traditional consensus conferences, organizers control the formal information available to participantsby compiling structured background materials and recruiting expert panelists. Less formally, however, participants are encouraged to bring their own experiences into the deliberations, and in doing so, they often seek outside information. We explore this heretofore understudied phenomenon of information seeking during a deliberative event: the U.S. National Citizens' Technology Forum (2008), which addressed the convergence of nanotechnology, biotechnology, information technology, and cognitive science on the potential development of human-enhancement technologies. Through interviews with participants and observation of in-person and online deliberations, we identify outside information-seeking strategies and motivations. Our study demonstrates that conceptualizing models of deliberation as standalone settings of communication exchange ignores the reality of the complex information environment from which deliberative participants draw when making sense of technical issues. Future citizen deliberations must incorporate outside information seeking in the design of the exercises.
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