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    Rights statement: Copyright: 2013 Christley et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited

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Wrong, but useful: negotiating uncertainty in infectious disease modelling

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Wrong, but useful: negotiating uncertainty in infectious disease modelling. / Christley, Robert; Mort, Maggie; Wynne, Brian et al.
In: PLoS ONE, Vol. 8, No. 10, e76277, 16.10.2013.

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Christley R, Mort M, Wynne B, Wastling J, Heathwaite L, Pickup R et al. Wrong, but useful: negotiating uncertainty in infectious disease modelling. PLoS ONE. 2013 Oct 16;8(10):e76277. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0076277

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@article{bb124d6aeb634507a5af3c6dd2544e2f,
title = "Wrong, but useful: negotiating uncertainty in infectious disease modelling",
abstract = "For infectious disease dynamical models to inform policy for containment of infectious diseases the models must be able to predict; however, it is well recognised that such prediction will never be perfect. Nevertheless, the consensus is that although models are uncertain, some may yet inform effective action. This assumes that the quality of a model can be ascertained in order to evaluate sufficiently model uncertainties, and to decide whether or not, or in what ways or under what conditions, the model should be {\textquoteleft}used{\textquoteright}. We examined the uncertainty in modelling, utilising a range of data: interviews with scientists, policy-makers and advisers, and analysis of policy documents, scientific publications and reports of major inquiries into key livestock epidemics. We show that the discourse of uncertainty in infectious disease models is multi-layered, flexible, contingent, embedded in context and plays a critical role in negotiating model credibility. We argue that usability and stability of a model is an outcome of the negotiation that occurs within the networks and discourses surrounding it. This negotiation employs a range of discursive devices that renders uncertainty in infectious disease modelling a plastic quality that is amenable to {\textquoteleft}interpretive flexibility{\textquoteright}. The utility of models in the face of uncertainty is a function of this flexibility, the negotiation this allows, and the contexts in which model outputs are framed and interpreted in the decision making process. We contend that rather than being based predominantly on beliefs about quality, the usefulness and authority of a model may at times be primarily based on its functional status within the broad social and political environment in which it acts.",
author = "Robert Christley and Maggie Mort and Brian Wynne and Jonathan Wastling and Louise Heathwaite and Roger Pickup and Zoe Austin and Sophia Latham",
note = "Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2013 Christley et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.; Lost in Translation: Living with Uncertainty in Animal Disease Management ; Conference date: 21-09-2011",
year = "2013",
month = oct,
day = "16",
doi = "10.1371/journal.pone.0076277",
language = "English",
volume = "8",
journal = "PLoS ONE",
issn = "1932-6203",
publisher = "Public Library of Science",
number = "10",

}

RIS

TY - JOUR

T1 - Wrong, but useful

T2 - Lost in Translation: Living with Uncertainty in Animal Disease Management

AU - Christley, Robert

AU - Mort, Maggie

AU - Wynne, Brian

AU - Wastling, Jonathan

AU - Heathwaite, Louise

AU - Pickup, Roger

AU - Austin, Zoe

AU - Latham, Sophia

N1 - Copyright: © 2013 Christley et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

PY - 2013/10/16

Y1 - 2013/10/16

N2 - For infectious disease dynamical models to inform policy for containment of infectious diseases the models must be able to predict; however, it is well recognised that such prediction will never be perfect. Nevertheless, the consensus is that although models are uncertain, some may yet inform effective action. This assumes that the quality of a model can be ascertained in order to evaluate sufficiently model uncertainties, and to decide whether or not, or in what ways or under what conditions, the model should be ‘used’. We examined the uncertainty in modelling, utilising a range of data: interviews with scientists, policy-makers and advisers, and analysis of policy documents, scientific publications and reports of major inquiries into key livestock epidemics. We show that the discourse of uncertainty in infectious disease models is multi-layered, flexible, contingent, embedded in context and plays a critical role in negotiating model credibility. We argue that usability and stability of a model is an outcome of the negotiation that occurs within the networks and discourses surrounding it. This negotiation employs a range of discursive devices that renders uncertainty in infectious disease modelling a plastic quality that is amenable to ‘interpretive flexibility’. The utility of models in the face of uncertainty is a function of this flexibility, the negotiation this allows, and the contexts in which model outputs are framed and interpreted in the decision making process. We contend that rather than being based predominantly on beliefs about quality, the usefulness and authority of a model may at times be primarily based on its functional status within the broad social and political environment in which it acts.

AB - For infectious disease dynamical models to inform policy for containment of infectious diseases the models must be able to predict; however, it is well recognised that such prediction will never be perfect. Nevertheless, the consensus is that although models are uncertain, some may yet inform effective action. This assumes that the quality of a model can be ascertained in order to evaluate sufficiently model uncertainties, and to decide whether or not, or in what ways or under what conditions, the model should be ‘used’. We examined the uncertainty in modelling, utilising a range of data: interviews with scientists, policy-makers and advisers, and analysis of policy documents, scientific publications and reports of major inquiries into key livestock epidemics. We show that the discourse of uncertainty in infectious disease models is multi-layered, flexible, contingent, embedded in context and plays a critical role in negotiating model credibility. We argue that usability and stability of a model is an outcome of the negotiation that occurs within the networks and discourses surrounding it. This negotiation employs a range of discursive devices that renders uncertainty in infectious disease modelling a plastic quality that is amenable to ‘interpretive flexibility’. The utility of models in the face of uncertainty is a function of this flexibility, the negotiation this allows, and the contexts in which model outputs are framed and interpreted in the decision making process. We contend that rather than being based predominantly on beliefs about quality, the usefulness and authority of a model may at times be primarily based on its functional status within the broad social and political environment in which it acts.

U2 - 10.1371/journal.pone.0076277

DO - 10.1371/journal.pone.0076277

M3 - Journal article

VL - 8

JO - PLoS ONE

JF - PLoS ONE

SN - 1932-6203

IS - 10

M1 - e76277

Y2 - 21 September 2011

ER -