The project examines how the production, communication and social negotiation of scientific evidence about COVID-19 take place under the conditions of the corona crisis. The rapid spread of COVID-19 and the associated pressure to act and make decisions increase the need for trustworthy scientific knowledge: contradicting experts, repreadly corrected figures, statistics and recommendations as well as the intensive medialization of dissent and conflicts also feed skepticism towards established sources of evidence. Against this background, this interdisciplinary project aims to de- and restabilize scientific evidence in the corona crisis. Four central arenas for negotiating evidence on COVID-19 at four locations will be examined (scientific research, medical practice, science journalism and social media).

Helena Bilandzic and Susanne Kinnebrock (University of Augsburg), Sascha Dickel (Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz), Mariacarla Gadebusch Bondio (University of Bonn) and Ruth Müller (Technical University of Munich) are involved in this project, which is also linked to the DFG research group 2448 "Practicing Evidence - Evidencing Practice".

The sub-project by Helena Bilandzic and Susanne Kinnebrock is dedicated to science journalism: the media coverage of scientific works and findings on COVID-19 is examined by using a quantitative content analysis. The project will start at the end of 2021.

Principal Investigators (Augsburg): Prof. Dr. Helena Bilandzic & Prof. Dr. Susanne Kinnebrock

Project Duration: 2021-2023

Funding: Part of the DFG-Research Unit “Practicing Evidence - Evidencing Practice“