不確定性與解決方案

Living in the Age of Uncertainty and Finding Solutions

周樹華(Shuhua ZHOU)

《傳播與社會學刊》 55期 (2021/01) Pp. v-ix

https://doi.org/10.30180/CS.202101_(55).0001

並列摘要

Academic research is about contributing to knowledge, which brings clarity to concepts, and subsequently, theories. Clarity can only come with certainty and the reduction of uncertainty. Inquiry starts with a question and concept explication, which bring the concept into focus and eliminate any ambiguity. When we design a study, collect data, look at patterns, build theories, and test them, we are gathering conclusive evidence to explain and predict something with certainty. This issue contains several manuscripts, which invariably demonstrates how certainty is ascertained, from news dissemination in a crisis to third-person effects in fake news; from Internet news consumption correlating to political trust, to Internet reading activities building social capital; from image construction of a historical figure, to concern of image leading to more information disclosure from grandparents. Though methods vary, they are either trying to arrive at certainty or exploring paths to reduce uncertainty.