Two recent papers have again brought into question the value and effectiveness of ‘nudge’ based policy interventions. Tony Hockley argues that as much as these studies reveal about nudge policies, they say more about the complex way social and behaviou…
Category: Behavioural Science
The devil’s in the framing: language and bias
How we say things can be as important as what we say. In this post, Ella Whiteley explores the “framing effect”, its implications for education and research communication and in particular, its salience to discussions of sex and gender. Picture yourse…
COVID-19 interventions: what behavioural scientists should – and shouldn’t – be advising government on
Adam Oliver writes that behavioural scientists should leave the judgments on which pandemic interventions ought to be introduced to those appointed to balance all relevant considerations, and instead focus on assessing how the introduced interventions …
The incompatibility of Nudge and Co-Design as tools for policymaking
The use of nudge theory to inform policy interventions in response to COVID-19 has re-opened debates over the politically paternalistic nature of governing by ‘nudges’ and has given momentum to calls to include the more participatory elements of co-des…
Behavioural science and the response to COVID-19: a missed opportunity?
While the role of behavioural science in the UK’s handling of the pandemic has been criticised, Peter John and Gerry Stoker argue that it is important for governments to try and influence citizens’ behaviour rather than rely on laws that are harder to enforce. They nevertheless explain why a different ‘nudging’ approach ought to have … Continued
Book Review: Re-Engineering Humanity by Brett Frischmann and Evan Selinger
In Re-Engineering Humanity, Brett Frischmann and Evan Selinger explore how the rise of new technologies and datafication grounded in machinic rationality risk conditioning humans to become more machinic-like in turn. As the book seeks to consider how the value of the human can be protected from the consequences of data creep, it will prompt readers to look at otherwise taken-for-granted technology practices differently, writes Ignas Kalpokas. […]