Public Perceptions of Global Climate Change

Taking public perceptions of global climate change as an example for contemporary environmental studies from the social sciences, this study from the Frankfurt area experiments with new ways of data generation and data analysis: Concerning the former, moderated focus groups are used in which computer models are presented to inform the participating public about global environmental issues. Concerning the latter, an improved ideal type methodology is applied. After exploring different dimensions of the participants’ perceptions of the climate issue (e.g. framings, expectations from experts, change of perceptions during the group process), four ideal types of climate protection and four types of knowledge processing among the general public are differentiated. Both methodology and empirical findings are related to the theory of Reflexive Modernization.