What makes vaccine misinformation so compelling? A surprising answer is the power of stories. Opponents of vaccination share powerful personal experiences of childhood illnesses or alleged side effects of vaccines. In contrast, scientists rarely use the same narrative strategies to counter misinformation.
I read recently an article about stories in science. How can we use the power of stories to communicate more effectively about controversial scientific topics, including vaccination?
Three key strategies to make science stories more concrete and engaging
1. Cast people in the story
Science narratives often have no characters—at least, not human ones. A simple way to enhance the narrative is to include scientists making discoveries or conducting experiments as main characters.
2. Explain science as a process
People often think of science as objective and unbiased. But science is actually a human practice that constantly involves choices, mistakes, and biases.
3. Include what matters to people
Science topics are important, but they may not always be the public's most pressing concerns.
Anyone can tell the stories of science. When we share health information online or talk to friends and family about the weather, we contribute to the information that circulates about scientific topics.
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