National Public Health Institute, Finland Open Risk Assessment Lecture 2: General assessment framework Mikko Pohjola KTL, Finland

National Public Health Institute, Finland Contents Purpose of risk assessment Societal context of risk assessment Properties of good risk assessments General assessment processes Universal assessment products Open participation in risk assessment Other important concepts

National Public Health Institute, Finland Purpose of risk assessment Ultimately: to improve societal decisions on risk related issues Two aspects of the purpose: –General purpose = to describe reality –Instrumental purpose = to answer to a specific need

National Public Health Institute, Finland Societal context of risk assessment Risk assessment is collection, synthesis and interpretation of scientific information and value judgments for use of the society

National Public Health Institute, Finland Societal context of risk assessment

National Public Health Institute, Finland Properties of good risk assessments

National Public Health Institute, Finland Properties of good risk assessments Quality of content –How good a description of the given part of reality it is? Applicability –How well does the information within the description transfer to decision making process? Efficiency –(Quality of content + Applicability)/Spent effort –How good output, given the effort, was/is produced?

National Public Health Institute, Finland General assessment processes Observation of reality Information collection Information manipulation (in undefined format) Information synthesis (to a defined format) Communication Management of assessment process

National Public Health Institute, Finland Universal assessment products Variable –A description of reality within defined scope –A falsifiable hypothesis (Popper’s falsification) Assessment –A collection of variables according to a particular need (question/problem)

National Public Health Institute, Finland Universal assessment products Context –The external factors that define the purpose of assessment and the avilable means to carry out the assessment Class –A practical (non-fundamental) object type –Collection of variables that share a property or properties

National Public Health Institute, Finland Universal assessment products Causal diagram –Means of presenting assessments (including variables)

National Public Health Institute, Finland Open participation in risk assessment Unorganized groups participate, share information, and utilise the products of others –Common target of work –Group communication & production –Independent actors – Anyone, anytime, anything Dimensions of openness –Involvement, access, influence, time, …

National Public Health Institute, Finland Open participation in risk assessment Normative & ethical reasons Instrumental & pragmatic reasons Epistemological & substantive reasons Goal: improved output of RA: –Quality of content Informativeness, calibration, relevance –Applicability Usability, availability, acceptability –Efficiency?

National Public Health Institute, Finland Other important concepts? Heande: Glossary