2. Mental Modeling Research Technical Approach

The following discussion provides an overview of the social science methodology behind Mental Modeling, the key benefits, and the key steps in the process. The original process was developed to identify in detail the specific risk communications steps in an integrated risk management process, the Canadian Standard Association’s Q850-97 Risk Management: Guideline for Decision-Makers (1997). Over the years, we have refined and customized the process to suit the topic and application at hand. Many subsequent applications have expanded and broadened the use of Mental Modeling to a range of topics and challenges related to risk and decision making. To demonstrate the broad range of topics and applications that have been addressed with Mental Modeling and to illustrate the steps in the approach, we present several example case studies in subsequent chapters. In this chapter, we describe the key steps using the American Society of Plastic Surgeons Mental Modeling case study that goes from research design to strategy and communications execution and measurement.