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(319) Understanding deteminants of difference in perceptions of risk surrounding organophosphate sheep dips. Carmody, Petrina1,2, Frewer, Lynn2, Wooldridge, Marion1, Warburton, David3, 1 2 3 ABSTRACT- The ways in which people perceive risks matter at both individual and societal levels. At an individual level they may determine a person's decisions and actions. At the societal level they may impact upon policy making and effectiveness of a decision or policy within an organisation or Government. The effectiveness of a decision making process depends on a shared dialogue between stakeholders; a clear understanding of similarities and differences in perceptions of risk held by all concerned is fundamental to this. This paper describes a mixed method approach where OP sheep dips, controversial veterinary medicines in the UK, are used as a case study to understand determinants of difference in the perceptions of risk held by three stakeholder groups in the UK; farmers, public and experts. The first study described explored, through semi-structured interviews (N=119) based on the Laddering Technique (An investigation of the levels of Cognitive Abstraction Utilised by Consumers in Product Differentiation, Gutman J & Reynolds TJ, In Attitude Research under the sun, J. Eighmey (Ed) Chicago: American Marketing Association, 1979), the range of perceptions held by each interest group. This paper reports on the findings of the first study and describes the use of these results in construction of a quantitative questionnaire to validate the earlier qualitative interview approach and examine the determinants of difference in perceptions of risk surrounding OP dips. In addition implications for risk communication targeted at the different groups in society are suggested. Key words: risk perception, organophosphates |
