Online Resource 3
Online Resource3
Article Title: The scientific veneer of IPCC visuals
Journal Name: Climatic Change
Authors: Rosemarie McMahon, Michael Stauffacher, Reto Knutti
1Table of results
This table contains all the results reported in the text to allow for easier cross-comparison between visuals, groups and SPM versus infographic visuals.
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Online Resource 3
2Demographic profile of the sample
2.1Profile ofthe full sample
Over half (57%) of the sample (N=128)was males and the prominent nationality was Swiss (77%) followed by other Europeans (16%). The majority had a certificate (43%) and bachelors (40%) level education. The dominant disciplines were Geography (21%), Neuroscience (17%), Earth science (16%) and Environmental Science (13%). Certificate level education refers to the qualification achieved at the end of high school and is normally the entry qualification required for universities in Switzerland and worldwide.
2.2Profile for group one, climate students
Studentsfrom the undergraduate lecture in climate science (n=69) wereevenly comprised of males (52%) and females (48%) and the majority were Swiss nationals (91%). They had certificate (75%) level education in natural science disciplines such as Geography (39%), Earth Science (30%), and Environmental Science (25%).
2.3Profile for Group 2 – Non-climate students
The second group from the undergraduate lecture in computational visualisation (n=59) wasmade up mainly of males (68%). The main nationality was Swiss (61%), followed by European (26%). The educational level for this group was much higher with students achieving Bachelors (69%), Masters (14%) and Diploma (12%) levels. The main disciplinesincluded Neuroscience (36%), Psychology (20%), Computer Science (14%), and Biology (12%).
3Interview Responses
Only a few of the interview statements have been included in the main article because of limited space, however the complete set of statements has been documented hereunder. The interviews were scheduled immediately after the survey and the time, which elapsed between the survey and discussions, was a minimum one-day and maximum of two-days.
(See main article section 3.1)
Task 1 - The first word that comes to mind when readers see this visual
Interview Question:Why did you pick this word (referto the feedback form)?
Fig. 1a – SPM time series line graph / “I didn’t really understand what this graph was trying to tell me but I though it was colourful so colour was the first word” [Non-climate student, Bachelors of Psychology]
“Sorry what is the question again? Okay, well I saw the four colours, blue, green, yellow and red and thought about a rainbow” [Non climate student, Bachelors of Neuroscience]
“ I don’t know why but [graph] was the first word that came into my mind when I looked at it” [Non-climate student, Bachelors of Mechanical Engineering]
“Rainbow seemed like the best word to describe it, I mean look at the colours, see they use the primary colours red, green, and blue” [Non-climate student, Bachelors of Computer Science]
“The colours are very vivid in this graph so [colour]was the first word that I thought about” [Non-climate student, Bachelors of Physics]
“[Data] seemed to be the best word for this image as nothing else came to mind. Maybe if I had time to understand it then I would have thought of something different” [Non-climate student, Bachelors of Bioinfomatics]
“It was the first image and I only had a couple of seconds to look at it so [graph]is all I could think of asI couldn’t tell what it was about and a graph was the first thing shown” [Non-climate student, Bachelors of Bioinfomatics]
“Well I see a lot of [noise] frequency in this graph so all these bars here and this area here so that is what I noticed first” [Non-climate student, Bachelors of Psychology]
“Yeah cause it is a [plot] of some kind and shows lines and something increasing” [Non-climate student, Bachelors of Biology]
“Well this graph shows temperature increase for a set of scenarios so I though of the word[climate change]” [Climate student, Bachelors of Earth Science]
“As far as I remember this is probably produced by climate scientists and it shows temperature change so I thought of [warming]” [Climate student, Bachelors of Geography]
“This graph shows the emission scenarios so the word [climate scenarios] came to my mind first” [Climate student, Bachelors of Environmental Science]
“I think this is one of the graphs from the IPCC report so the word [IPCC], (pause) yeah I think I am right, am I?” [Climate student, Bachelors of Earth Science]
“Yeah, well I have seen this graph before and the trends are the warming under different scenarios so the word [scenarios] came to my mind” [Climate student, Bachelors of Physics]
“It shows the warming of the globe for different scenarios so I wrote down the word [emission scenarios] on the sheet” [Climate student, Bachelors of Geography]
“Yes, the word [temperature] well am I need to think (pause), well because it was written on the graph and I read that first” [Climate student, Bachelors of Environmental Science]
Fig 1b – SPM visual with multiple graphs / “Not sure what to say, there is a lot of data on this graph so I though of lines and I see lots of lines so I wrote down [lines]” [Non-climate student, Bachelors of Psychology]
“Wasn’t sure where to look in this graph and [statistics] came into my mind as it shows lots of statistical information and even too much, so yeah” [Non climate student, Bachelors of Neuroscience]
“If you want to annoy someone you should show them this graph as it will confuse them so [OMG] was my first reaction” [Non-climate student, Bachelors of Mechanical Engineering]
“I choose the word complicated as I think this graph looks like its part of some scientific report and it seems to be for experts as it is very detailed” [Non-climate student, Bachelors of Computer Science]
“It is a very scientific looking graphic so yeah the word [scientific]. I think it really looks like something from a text book or a scientific publication or something” [Non-climate student, Bachelors of Physics]
“You normally see graphs like this in science papers so I thought of[study]and that was the first word to describe this for me” [Non-climate student, Bachelors of Bioinfomatics]
“[Increase] because it looks like everything is increasing as far as I couldn’t tell but I am not sure (pause), no, that’s right things are increasing” [Non-climate student, Bachelors of Bioinfomatics]
“It is very [complicated] and there are lots of lines and curves and statistics of something, yeah but it is very complex” [Non-climate student, Bachelors of Psychology]
“[Mathematics]as it shows some complex equations presented as charts with a lot of details and I guess it is for experts” [Non-climate student, Bachelors of Biology]
“[Climate warming] as this shows how the climate will change and the warming we can expect in the future” [Climate student, Bachelors of Earth Science]
“The graphs show the change in temperature and sea level rise so, yeah[climate curves] came into my mind” [Climate student, Bachelors of Geography]
“There isa lot of information on this image but I have seen it before so I know it is about climate change so yeah [temperature warming]” [Climate student, Bachelors of Environmental Science]
“[climate warming] as it is an IPCC graph that shows the future climate warming” [Climate student, Bachelors of Earth Science]
“I am not sure but maybe I have seen this graph before but I still found it complicated and immediately though of [complex]” [Climate student, Bachelors of Biology]
“Because it is [overloaded] there is just too much on one image” [Climate student, Bachelors of Physics]
“It shows the warming and sea level rise so[climateprojections]” [Climate student, Bachelors of Geography]
“To me this graph is just overloaded and the first word that came to my mind when I saw this image was [confusing]” [Climate student, Bachelors of Biology]
“[Science] came to mind. Why? Well this is a typical scientific graph full of information and showing lots of data” [Climate student, Bachelors of Environmental Science]
Fig 1c – SPM graph with globes / “I liked the globes but I didn’t really understand what it was trying to show me so I put the word [globe] as I wasn’t sure what else it was about” [Non-climate student, Bachelors of Psychology]
“This is something you see in a scientific paper and I noticed the intense red so I though of the word [red]” [Non climate student, Bachelors of Neuroscience]
“Thisis something that I quickly though of but if I had more time I might have thought of something else but [map] was the first thing that came into my mind” [Non-climate student, Bachelors of Mechanical Engineering]
“I am not sure what I am suppose to do with this, are the globes showing me something different so yeah, amI put down [world map] as that is what I see” [Non-climate student, Bachelors of Computer Science]
“[Earth] because I noticed the globes and though of that word” [Non-climate student, Bachelors of Physics]
“So what I wrote down was[oval] (pause) well, okay, I didn’t get time to really look at the image in more detail but there was oval shaped worldsand that was the most obvious thing to me” [Non-climate student, Bachelors of Bioinfomatics]
“It shows the [world] and some kind of information at the side. That’s all I got out of this sorry” [Non-climate student, Bachelors of Bioinfomatics]
“It looks like [warm weather] or world weather or something, ok I see the title now (reading) surface temperature yeah, something to do with the weather” [Non-climate student, Bachelors of Psychology]
“ It shows a [heat] up of the earth okaymaybe seasonal change or something like that” [Non-climate student, Bachelors of Biology]
“[Global warming] because that is what it shows” [Climate student, Bachelors of Earth Science]
“[Chaos]. Well this is showing a chaos for the climate” [Climate student, Bachelors of Geography]
“It made me think of [terabytes]. There is just so much data here in this graphic that is what I first thought of” [Climate student, Bachelors of Environmental Science]
“[Global disaster]as the temperatures will continue to rise if we don’t cut our emissions” [Climate student, Bachelors of Earth Science]
“Ok well [ensembles] of climate models is what I see and this is what I wrote down, yes” [Climate student, Bachelors of Physics]
“This is from a climate study and they are showing the heating up of the earth so [heat map] was the first wordthat came to me” [Climate student, Bachelors of Geography]
“The red is really prominent and I know it shows the warming of the earth so I said[warming]” [Climate student, Bachelors of Environmental Science]
Fig 1d – SPM graph with a map / “I found it hard to grasp the message and[land] was the first thing I thought of as I wasn’t sure what they were trying to explain here” [Non-climate student, Bachelors of Psychology]
“It is showing me something about birth rates in the different regions – (pause) so yeah, [birthrate]that is what I put down for this image” [Non climate student, Bachelors of Neuroscience]
“[Population] because we have blue and pink here”[Non-climate student, Bachelors of Mechanical Engineering]
“I didn’t understand what it was about. I looked at the [ocean] and that’s a big area of the image so that’s why I picked it” [Non-climate student, Bachelors of Computer Science]
“[Travel] well that’s what came to my mind when I see this map. Okay maybe this isn’t the best word but you asked what came into my mind first and that is what I see” [Non-climate student, Bachelors of Physics]
“It’s a [map] so that’s what I see and thought about. (pause, reading) Ah, no, okay, wellI don’t know really is it something to do with poverty or temperature I am not sure” [Non-climate student, Bachelors of Psychology]
“Evidently blue and pink is the [birth rates] of females and males” [Non-climate student, Bachelors of Biology]
“ [Land] as it is showing the world and some changes in the different locations. Okay this is marked in pink and blue, so it is the population change?” [Non-climate student, Bachelors of Bioinfomatics]
“Well it is [boring]and I don’t like this type of visual as you never really know where to look soI look at Europe because this is where I am located” [Non-climate student, Bachelors of Bioinfomatics]
“ [Pastel] cause we have light pinks and blue and the ocean is also in a light blue and it made me think of this word” [Non-climate student, Bachelors of Psychology]
“[Rising curves] in the different places. Why? Well somehow the curves are all rising and generally upwards” [Non-climate student, Bachelors of Biology]
“The map shows [global warming] across the different regions on land and sea” [Climate student, Bachelors of Earth Science]
“We see a [warming] up of the land surface temperature and this is not the same everywhere but the trend is upwards” [Climate student, Bachelors of Geography]
“Yeah well it shows the effects of humans on the warming of the earth so how the [temperature] increases” [Climate student, Bachelors of Environmental Science]
“Cause it shows the [global change] in temperatures” [Climate student, Bachelors of Earth Science]
“This is a typical way to show [global warming] so yeah that is the word I put down as this is what it is about” [Climate student, Bachelors of Physics]
“They are trying to show a [warming world] as you see the trend lines go up everywhere including land and sea” [Climate student, Bachelors of Geography]
“It shows the temperature change in the different regions so [temperature] was the word that I first thought of but you could also use different words” [Climate student, Bachelors of Environmental Science]
Fig 1e – Well designed infographic / “Yeah this visuals is easy to read and simply shows how [emissions] have increased”[Non-climate student, Bachelors of Psychology]
“[Industry] as it produces a lot of emissions which are damaging and some countries produce more or at least from this that is what I see” [Non-climate student, Bachelors of Biology]
“This has something to do with our [emissions] and why we need to reduce them” [Non-climate student, Bachelors of Bioinfomatics]
“For me I thought of [pollution]. It is easy see here that pollution is bad as it comes from industry” [Non-climate student, Bachelors of Bioinfomatics]
“Yeah, [smog]or some kind of smoke from industry that is causing a heating up” [Non-climate student, Bachelors of Psychology]
“[Factories]and the waste they produce and how this is not a good thing” [Non-climate student, Bachelors of Biology]
“It is about[climate warming]caused by pollution from industry” [Climate student, Bachelors of Earth Science]
“The increase of [energy consumption] and the risk of increasing our emissions” [Climate student, Bachelors of Geography]
“It showsthe increase in [carbon dioxide] emissions over the years” [Climate student, Bachelors of Environmental Science]
“[Global warming] as a result of carbon dioxide emissions” [Climate student, Bachelors of Earth Science]
“ [Carbon emissions]are shown here and the increase in emissions so yeah that’s it really” [Climate student, Bachelors of Physics]
“Well because it looks like part of a [newspaper/magazine] article or at least it is made for a magazine or a newspaper” [Climate student, Bachelors of Geography]
Fig 1f – Poorly designed infographic / “It look like an old [vinyl]music disks, to me at least” [Non-climate student, Bachelors of Psychology]
“I have no idea but these [blobs] are useless and it doesn’t really tell anything specific not sure the person who made this understood what theywanted to show” [Non-climate student, Bachelors of Biology]
“Is it a [poster]of some sort or a graphic. Do we know what the circles represent? I find this difficult to read” [Non-climate student, Bachelors of Bioinfomatics]
“[Clouds] maybe or some representation of smog into the atmosphere. Okay yeah emissions but I cant read this small text it is a very badly made” [Non-climate student, Bachelors of Bioinfomatics]
“It looks like [CDs] and I couldn’t thing of anything else”[Non-climate student, Bachelors of Psychology]
“Its not clear, are these circles suppose to tell me something. The first thing I see is [circles][Non-climate student, Bachelors of Biology]
“I presume the round circles represent [emissions] but it isn’t very clear what they represent and how much it is (pause) it is confusing” [Climate student, Bachelors of Earth Science]
“It is all black and blueso [why] came to my mind. I don’t understand why they used so much colour” [Climate student, Bachelors of Geography]
“[Bubbles] is what I see and that is what this makes you think about” [Climate student, Bachelors of Environmental Science]
“It looks like [bubbles] or at least that’s my impression” [Climate student, Bachelors of Earth Science]
“I couldn’t really read what was in the circles and for me I wasn’t able to tell what it was trying to say so I wrote [blue] as finally that is all you can see” [Climate student, Bachelors of Physics]
“The word [bubbles] first came to my mind because there was a lot of big round bubblesand I didn’t really focus on anything else”[Climate student, Bachelors of Geography]
“These[circles] do not give me more information and while I should look at them I don’t know what it is trying to tell me” [Climate student, Bachelors of Environmental Science]
3.1(See main article section 3.2)
Task 2: How much did this image affects the reader
Why did you select this ranking(refer to the feedback form)?Fig 1a – SPM time series line graph / “Well [more or less] because I don’t really understand this graph and finally what am I suppose to do with this information” [Non-climate student, Bachelors of Psychology]
“Yes [not at all] (pause) well am, it is ok but I’m not really drawntoit and I cant say it affects me” [Non-climate student, Bachelors of Biology]
“I am [more or less]affectedas I find the colours attractive but I cant follow it” [Non-climate student, Bachelors of Bioinfomatics]
“Only [a little] as it doesn’t mean very much to me as I am not from this area and I don’t know what it is trying to say” [Non-climate student, Bachelors of Bioinfomatics]