This will be a hybrid in-person and remote talk.
Misinformation correction interventions often rely on factorial randomized control trials (RCT) to assess message effectiveness. Sample size constraints, however, limit the number of interventions researchers can evaluate via RCTs. Conjoint experiments – which ask respondents to render judgments about several stimuli with many different attribute combinations – could resolve this problem, but are complicated by implementation difficulties. I offer a novel framework for applying conjoint designs to misinformation correction, and offer two demonstrations of their viability: one addressing misinformation in three domains (climate change, COVID-19 vaccination, genetically modified food), and another in a single domain (flu vaccine beliefs). In addition to establishing methodological viability, I document strong levels of misinformation correction across studies. I also build on prior research by providing preliminary evidence that, under some conditions, validating misinformed beliefs can inspire attitudinal change. I conclude by outlining how conjoint experiments can help to more-efficiently evaluate misinformation correction communications.
Matt Motta (PhD) is an Assistant Professor of Health Law, Policy, & Management at Boston University's School of Public Health. Previously, he was Assistant Professor of Political Science at Oklahoma State University. Before that, he was a Science of Science Communication postdoctoral fellow at the Annenberg Public Policy Center (University of Pennsylvania), and was an affiliated postdoctoral researcher at Yale Law School's Cultural Cognition Project. Motta received his PhD in Political Science from the University of Minnesota, where he was also a National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellow and Doctoral Dissertation Fellow. Dr. Motta's research focuses on a wide range of topics related to American politics, public opinion, science communication, and both health and environmental policy. He is especially interested in identifying the social and political determinants of anti-science attitudes, and investigating their policy impact. He is also broadly interested in designing communication strategies that promote effective engagement between the public and the scientific community on politically contentious issues.
Matt Motta (PhD) is an Assistant Professor of Health Law, Policy, & Management at Boston University's School of Public Health. Previously, he was Assistant Professor of Political Science at Oklahoma State University. Before that, he was a Science of Science Communication postdoctoral fellow at the Annenberg Public Policy Center (University of Pennsylvania), and was an affiliated postdoctoral researcher at Yale Law School's Cultural Cognition Project. Motta received his PhD in Political Science from the University of Minnesota, where he was also a National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellow and Doctoral Dissertation Fellow. Dr. Motta's research focuses on a wide range of topics related to American politics, public opinion, science communication, and both health and environmental policy. He is especially interested in identifying the social and political determinants of anti-science attitudes, and investigating their policy impact. He is also broadly interested in designing communication strategies that promote effective engagement between the public and the scientific community on politically contentious issues.
