There is an ongoing debate about whether and how to communicate the epistemic uncertainty of scientific findings. In this debate, skeptics that shy away from communicating uncertainty measures of...Show moreThere is an ongoing debate about whether and how to communicate the epistemic uncertainty of scientific findings. In this debate, skeptics that shy away from communicating uncertainty measures of their work, commonly name loss of trust in scientists and the information they produce as important arguments. Efforts to provide clarity in this discussion, generated insight on many aspects of epistemic uncertainty but the effect of different magnitudes, or sizes of epistemic uncertainty has rarely been the subject of studies. To collect evidence on the nature of the relationship between different magnitudes of communicated uncertainty in science and the trust scientific laymen have in the source of information, this study presents respondents to a survey (N = 235) with one of three magnitudes of uncertainty (no uncertainty, low uncertainty, or high uncertainty) across three different formats (verbal, numerical, and visual) and measures their trust in the source of information. No association was found between magnitude and trust in the source. Furthermore, exploration of the data revealed no interaction between the format and the magnitude of epistemic uncertainty on trust in the source. This study’s limitations in representability and validity restrict strong conclusions. Future research should ensure that participants comprehend what high or low magnitudes of uncertainty are in the context of scientific findings, so participants’ comprehension of the magnitudes is increased and hence also the meaningfulness of judgments they make based on them.Show less
