Conspiracy Theories - Assignment Example

Conspiracy Theories Nyan Reifler The main determiner of the success or failure of any health care policy is public opinion which often influenced with misinformation. Misperceptions negatively influence health care reform as well as other controversial health issues. The research attempted to establish if false beliefs that Affordable care Act is able to result in death panels through very aggressive media fact-checking. The study found that corrective information is able to reduce misinformation regarding health policy for some groups.

The corrective information reduced strong opposition to reform bill and beliefs in death panel among low-knowledge respondents. However, it failed among high-knowledge respondents. According to the results, it is very difficult to completely reduce misperceptions concerning health care reform among people that have sophistication as well as motivation to reject the corrective information.Bird and Bogart The study aimed at exploring the relationship that exists between birth control conspiracy beliefs as well as perceived discrimination and contraceptive behavior as well as attitude on African-Americans.

From the cross-sectional anonymous telephone survey, it is clear that a greater percentage of the respondents observed that discrimination is targeted at African America women. The results also support birth control conspiracy beliefs. Female respondents perceived discrimination when obtaining contraceptive services or family planning. The study discovered that greater perceived discrimination and stronger conspiracy beliefs were linked to negative attitudes towards contraceptive methods, especially birth control pills, as well as with contraceptive intentions and behavior.

According to the research, perceived discrimination and conspiracy beliefs may play a key role in African-Americans’ attitudes the use of contraceptive methods.Briggs and Cholera Several conspiracy theories have been put forth in trying to explain the cholera epidemic. In case of an outbreak that leads to death, government officials often racialize the dead as being indigenous. Just like in the Eastern Venezuela they also suggest that their culture is to blame. However, the true picture is that the state, international politics as well as global capitalism were complicit in such a genocidal plot.

Even though it is rather easy to attribute such conspiracy theories to cultural and epistemological differences, it is the political economies that plays key role in such incidences. Political economies exclude some communities from accessing authoritative information sources to transform their stories into public discourse. Therefore, people can find strategies for survival by identifying new ways of involving each and every community. Anthropologists need to systematically and critically grasp the socio-economic and political inequalities and intervene more reflexively and critically in the process.

Simons and ParsonsA number of studies indicate that there is a prevalent belief in conspiracy theories that have likely harmful effects especially when they concern HIV/AIDS among African- Americans. A study aimed at establishing whether African-American elites could play a leading role in dispelling such beliefs was conducted on locally elected officials in Louisiana and the results compared with previous studies of African-American churchgoers in Louisiana. From the mail surveys of systematic sample of 400 African-American elected officials, 170 returned the duly filled forms.

And from OLS regression and confirmatory factor analysis that were employed in analyzing determinants of beliefs and attitude structures respectively, it is crystal clear that even these locally elected elite officials also believe in such theories in so far as the churchgoers. The results also indicate that their belief structures are also similar. The beliefs in conspiracy theories are very widespread and African-American elites will not try to dispel them.Work citedBriggs, C. L. Theorizing modernity conspiratorially: Science, scale, and the political economy of public discourse in explanations of a cholera epidemic.

American Ethnologist, 31, 164–187, 2004. Internet resource.Thorburn Bird, S., & Bogart, L. Birth Control Conspiracy Beliefs, Perceived Discrimination, and Contraception among African Americans: An Exploratory Study. Journal of Health Psychology, 2003. Internet resource.Nyhan, B., Reifler, J., & Ubel, P. a. The hazards of correcting myths about health care reform. Medical Care, 51, 127–32, 2013. Internet resource. Simmons, W. P., & Parsons, S. Beliefs in conspiracy theories among African Americans: A comparison of elites and masses.

Social Science Quarterly, 86, 582–598, 2005. Internet resource.