Socialising the Genome
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Socialising the Genome - Combining social science, advertising industry expertise, animation and social media to learn how to engage the public with genomics
IRAS ID
182652
Contact name
Anna Middleton
Contact email
Duration of Study in the UK
2 years, 0 months, 2 days
Research summary
How do we make 'genomics' meaningful for people who know nothing about it? How do we even start a conversation about genomics? Genomics England have identified a need for an effective public engagement strategy, which can be enhanced by the provision of robust evidence on: 1) what genomics means (if anything) to people who are currently disconnected from it, and 2) what methods the public perceive will be useful for the delivery of information about genomics to others.
We will explore how to deliver information about genomics to the public, drawing on established skills employed by the advertising industry. We aim to use focus groups to start a conversation about genomics and explore what it means to people; we will also prompt for information about delivery and what communications methods participants perceive will be useful. The insights gained from this will be combined with creative input from the advertising industry to design a set of 6 animations. These animations will be used as a tool to deliver messages about genomics, as well as explore other potential methods for information delivery. The content of the animations and their impact will be evaluated using social sciences research methods, delivered via an established and reputable market research company called Research Now (http://www.researchnow.com/en-GB/AboutUs.aspx).
REC name
West Midlands - Solihull Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
15/WM/0350
Date of REC Opinion
20 Sep 2015
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion