andrew pullin: the nature of evidence
DESCRIPTION
Presentation delivered by Professor Andrew Pullin, Centre for Evidence-Based Conservation, Bangor University, at Communicate 2012: Breaking BoundariesTRANSCRIPT
Prof. Andrew S. PullinCentre for Evidence-Based ConservationBangor University, UK
The Nature of Evidence
What is this talk about?
• Why create the Collaboration for Environmental Evidence (CEE)?
• What does CEE do?• What is the communication challenge?
www.environmentalevidence.org
Why create CEE?
• We need evidence to inform decisions when managing our environment.
• Data are ubiquitous and ever increasing.
• Primary scientific articles are published at faster rates than ever before, but are read by very few people.
• Wide range in quality of science• No reliable source of syntheses
to inform decision-making
Science informing decisions
Confounding factors in synthesis
1. Validity of evidence
2. Susceptibility to bias
Systematic review is the standard methodology in evidence synthesis
Evidence challenges
• Collecting evidence• Synthesising evidence• Communicating evidence
Working with commissioners
Simple messages are not necessarily appropriate
• Useful message may be complex• Complex messages tend to be burdened
with uncertainty
Communicating evidence
• Using appropriate language• Using appropriate media formats
Thanks to NERC
www.environmentalevidence.org