Project lead: Prof. Dr. Christian Apfelbacher PhD, Prof. Dr. Michael Reder
Project member(s): Julia Piel, Marilena von Köppen, Tizia Rosendorfer, Nicola Kippert
Funding: DFG - Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (German Research Foundation), 01.10.2021 - 30.09.2024

What the project is about

In the DFG-funded project "PoSEVi", led by Prof. Dr. Christian Apfelbacher (Institute of Social Medicine and Health Systems Research, Otto-von-Guericke University Magdeburg) and Prof. Dr. Michael Reder (Munich School of Philosophy), we exmine the role of public health in the COVID-19 pandemic from the perspective of scientists who are located in the public health sciences and related (sub)disciplines in Germany.

Our research approach

Besides a systematic analysis of relevant documents (position papers, statements, fact sheets, etc.) of scientific societies in the field of public halth, individual interviews will be conducted with experts from the public health sciences. The research process is based on Grounded Theory (GT) and extends its approach with Situation Analysis (SitA) according to Clarke (2012*).

The project team at the ISMG is conducting an accompanying qualitative study to explore how epidemiologists and health professionals work together,

• how epidemiologists/public health scientists receive the relationship between their discipline and political decision-making,
• how epidemiologists/public health scientists negotiate their own role as scientists and political citizens,
• how epidemiologists/public health scientists perceive the relationship between their and other scientific disciplines,
• the normative assupmtions epidemiologists/public health scientists make in the production and dissemination of research findings,
• how political and cultural contexts influence the self-image of epidemiologists/public health scientists and their relationship to politics.

From the beginning of the project and especially and in particular during the interpretation of the data, we intend an intensive exchange with the team from the philosophical sub-project of the Munich School of Philosophy.

Our aim of research

We are interested in the diversity of perspectives of public health experts on the relationship between science and politics during the pandemic and want to reconstruct the complex relationship between science and politics during the pandemic in Germany from the perspective of public health experts..
In collaboration between practical philosophy and public health science, we are working on further development/reconceptualisation of the established theoretical models of evidence-based policy for future collaborations between scientist and policymakers.
The results of this interdisciplinary project will be presented at a stakeholder workshop in spring 2024 and discussed together in the light of future challenges.

Literature

*Clarke, Adele (2012): Situational Analysis. Grounded Theory after the postmodern turn. Springer VS: Wiesbaden.