Social Dimensions of GMOs-Introduction
Robert Vavala
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05/10/2018
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94
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An introduction to the social dimensions of GMOs
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- [00:00:00.550]When we understand the social
- [00:00:01.960]dimensions of GMOs, we can better understand
- [00:00:04.520]why consumers accept or do not accept GMOs.
- [00:00:08.760]In this part of our learning environment,
- [00:00:10.490]we want to understand how social scientists
- [00:00:12.310]conduct their work.
- [00:00:13.630]We will do this by focusing on the research
- [00:00:15.380]of Dr. Carmen Bain at Iowa State University.
- [00:00:18.350]One of Dr. Bain's goals in her work as a social scientist
- [00:00:21.330]is to understand the social dimensions of GMOs.
- [00:00:24.240]We will use the work of her team to better understand
- [00:00:26.550]the opposition to GMOs in crops.
- [00:00:31.120]Let's start with thinking about how social scientists
- [00:00:33.270]conduct their research.
- [00:00:37.040]The final result for a social scientist who works
- [00:00:39.210]for a university is often to publish a research article
- [00:00:42.100]that has been reviewed by other social scientists
- [00:00:44.450]and then shared with the world through a journal.
- [00:00:46.910]If we read this research story in the journal called
- [00:00:49.210]Sustainability, we can learn how the social scientists
- [00:00:51.655]conducted their work, what they discovered from
- [00:00:54.130]their investigation, and why they believe
- [00:00:55.980]this discovery is important.
- [00:01:00.320]From this research story, we learned the first thing
- [00:01:02.713]that Dr. Bain and her team did was to use reliable
- [00:01:05.650]resources to research the history of GMOs in the U.S.
- [00:01:09.410]We can build a timeline of this story from their research.
- [00:01:15.420]Once the social scientist has a good idea
- [00:01:18.230]of the nature of the problem or controversy,
- [00:01:20.542]they will determine which questions need
- [00:01:22.470]to be answered next and can plan their methods
- [00:01:24.400]for obtaining relevant and reliable data
- [00:01:26.630]from the people who would have answers to these questions.
- [00:01:29.660]How do they obtain the data from these people?
- [00:01:34.690]One method to obtain the data is through surveys.
- [00:01:38.110]These could be phone, computer, or paper surveys.
- [00:01:40.810]The best choice depends on the people
- [00:01:42.410]the social scientist needs to question.
- [00:01:44.850]For one of Dr. Bain's experiments, she needed data
- [00:01:47.260]from farmers, so she chose the paper survey.
- [00:01:52.540]Her team chose this method because farmers
- [00:01:54.320]would be most likely to complete a paper survey
- [00:01:56.430]and then send it back in the mail.
- [00:02:00.820]The other method for obtaining relevant
- [00:02:02.390]and reliable data for social scientists
- [00:02:04.770]is to conduct interviews.
- [00:02:06.320]Some scientists might be skeptical of this method
- [00:02:08.540]because it often involves collecting data
- [00:02:10.330]from a small sample of people.
- [00:02:12.510]The key is to select the right people.
- [00:02:14.770]They should have experience and expertise
- [00:02:16.630]relevant for the social scientist's questions.
- [00:02:19.350]The social scientist will usually record the interview
- [00:02:21.730]to obtain the maximum amount of data
- [00:02:24.140]from each subject in their sample.
- [00:02:27.830]Once the social scientist has their data,
- [00:02:30.110]the next stage of their work is analysis of the data
- [00:02:32.870]and determining the importance of those results.
- [00:02:35.850]They will compare what their data revealed
- [00:02:38.110]to the results published from other studies.
- [00:02:43.530]The scientists will then share their analysis
- [00:02:45.550]with other social scientists who evaluate
- [00:02:47.620]the research methods and the analysis conducted.
- [00:02:50.490]These peers will be asked if the new data
- [00:02:52.320]supports the conclusions in the analysis.
- [00:02:54.683]If the peers like the research story
- [00:02:56.580]the social scientist tells, they will recommend
- [00:02:58.763]it be published in a peer-reviewed journal
- [00:03:01.080]so the story becomes a reliable contribution
- [00:03:03.340]to the permanent literature.
- [00:03:05.780]This is a simple description of the work
- [00:03:07.340]that Dr. Carmen Bain and her team have conducted.
- [00:03:10.150]We can now take a closer look at what this work
- [00:03:12.370]tells us about the social dimensions of GMOs
- [00:03:14.820]and gain a better understanding of consumer acceptance.
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