Item – Theses Canada

​
OCLC number
1019484491
Link(s) to full text
LAC copy
Author
Shao, Jen-Yin.
Title
To MMR or Not MMR : medical Discourses Surrounding Parental Decision-Making for Pediatric Immunization.
Degree
M. Sc. -- University of Toronto, 2011
Publisher
Ottawa : Library and Archives Canada = Bibliothèque et Archives Canada, 2012.
Description
1 online resource
Notes
Includes bibliographical references.
Abstract
<?Pub Inc> Coverage for the combined measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine (MMR) has been low since the publication of Wakefield's 1998 study associating MMR with the onset of autism. As a part of a larger project on risk communication, this study examined the medical discourse on parental decision-making for childhood immunizations to gain insight on why risk communication efforts have not been successful at improving uptake. The Public Understanding of Science (PUS) was used as a theoretical lens to guide Critical Discourse Analysis of texts from medical, pediatric, and public health journals, from which the analytic themes of Risk and Trust emerged. MMR uptake was framed mainly in terms of risk, indicating the dominance of the Deficit Model of PUS in the discourse. Future research and risk communication need to expand beyond current notions of risk; the Contextual Model of PUS can help highlight other factors that impact parental decision-making about MMR.
ISBN
9780494761373
0494761377