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Reactions to geographic data visualization of infectious disease outbreaks: an experiment on the effectiveness of
1Polk School of Communications, Long Island University, Brooklyn, NY, USA.
Objectives:
This study intended to compare the effectiveness of thematic maps with that of tabular data in comprehension and memory of risk magnitudes, with Zika virus (ZIKV) disease outbreaks in the United States as the subject matter. The study also aimed to examine the effects of data presentation format and past occurrence information on risk perception and risk avoidance intention.
Study Design:
This study used an experiment.
Methods:
Each participant was randomly assigned to view ZIKV disease 2017 incidence data presented in one of the three formats: a choropleth map, a graduated-circle map, and a table, after which they answered questions about comprehension and memory of risk magnitudes. Each participant was then randomly assigned to view or not to view incidence data of the previous occurrence of ZIKV outbreaks in 2016, after which they answered questions about risk perception and risk avoidance intention.
Results:
The results revealed the effectiveness of thematic maps over tabular data in comprehension, risk perception, and risk avoidance intention. Compared to tabular data, the choropleth map led to a better comprehension of relative risk magnitudes, the graduated-circle map led to higher risk perception, and both thematic maps led to greater risk avoidance intention. In contrast, tabular data led to better recognition of absolute risk magnitudes than both thematic maps. In addition, past occurrence information enhanced risk perception and risk avoidance intention.
Conclusions:
The findings reveal the importance of data presentation format in comprehension and memory of risk magnitudes. This can be attributed to the cognitive match between the information emphasized in the presentation and that required by the tasks. The findings also suggest that data presentation format and past occurrence information are important judgmental heuristics that help to form risk perception and risk avoidance intention.