On behalf of the Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations and the Taalunie, the University of Utrecht and the Arnhem-Nijmegen University of Applied Sciences have jointly measured the comprehensibility of government texts. The unique aspect of this study is the combination of three methods: automatic text analysis (LiNT), check interviews (conducted by government communication professionals), and reader surveys (involving readers with different backgrounds and reading abilities). The study provides insight into comprehensibility, applicability and perception of government texts. Over 70 government organizations submitted texts about payment or healthcare that citizens encounter, either on paper or online, during their interactions with the government. The study shows that at least 30 percent of the Dutch population has difficulty understanding and applying the information in the majority of the texts. Unexpected information or an inappropriate tone of voice often led to a negative perception. Here, we show that the combination of research methods is methodologically effective, due to their complementary nature and practical applicability.
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Boekbespreking van ´How to do action research for transformations at a time of eco-social crisis´ van auteur Hilary Bradbury. Hilary Bradbury geeft een overzicht van jaren van innovatie binnen hedendaags actieonderzoek en laat zien waar actieonderzoek voor transformaties (ART) op gericht is: op het reageren op klimaatverandering en het bereiken van wereldwijde duurzaamheidsdoelen. Het boek besteedt bijzondere aandacht aan sociale rechtvaardigheid en brengt mens- en sociale wetenschappen samen, waarbij de impact wordt onderzocht die actieonderzoek kan hebben.
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In this study, the construction of rumour on Twitter during a specific crisis is analysed from a discursive psychological perspective. This perspective treats psychological concepts such as identities as discursive constructions. The selected case is the robbery of a jewellery store in Deurne, a village in the Netherlands. The jeweller’s wife was said to have shot two of the robbers. Although this fact was not officially confirmed, people used particular discursive strategies to present the act of the jeweller’s wife as factual, which influenced the way the media reported on this case, as well as the reaction of the prosecutor, which was described as premature. Four dominant discursive patterns were detected, that is: normalizing the act, evaluating the act, upgrading the act and anticipating on the consequences of the act. Furthermore, it is demonstrated how critical tweets, displaying a concern for nuancing the overall tendency of the tweets, were designed in a way that downplayed their overt critical character. Implications of the analysis for crisis communication professionals are discussed. In deze studie wordt geruchtvorming in kaart gebracht met behulp van discursieve psychologie, waarin psychologische concepten zoals identiteit worden behandeld als discursieve constructies. De casus betreft een juwelenrook in Deurne, Nederland, waarbij de vrouw van de juwelier ervan beschuldigd werd twee overvallers te hebben doodgeschoten. Deze beschuldiging werd als feit behandeld op sociale media, ook al was dit nog niet officieel bevestigd. Dit beïnvloedde zowel de nieuwsberichtgeving, als de reactie van de officier van justitie in de media. Vier dominante discursieve patronen werden ontdekt in de discussie over de vermeende daad: normaliseren, evalueren, upgraden en anticiperen op de gevolgen. Ook wordt gedemonstreerd hoe tweets die nuance aanbrengen in de discussie, voorzichtig worden geformuleerd, waardoor het kritische karakter ervan wordt geminimaliseerd. Implicaties voor professionals in risiscommunicatie worden besproken.
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