Infection Connection

A new exhibition at Liberty Science Center called "Infection Connection" will tell how our choices determine the impact that infectious diseases have on people around the world. A front-end evaluation was conducted to assess potential visitors' familiarity with the topic. This information will give exhibit developers ideas about how to connect with and build on visitors' interest in, understanding of and feelings about infectious diseases. This report will summarize the findings, which include the demographics of the 160 respondents; their definitions of "infectious diseases"; which diseases were most familiar; how a disease makes you sick; word associations using a vocabulary pertaining to disease (e.g., bacteria, vaccine, cell); the ways that infectious diseases change a person's life; and what they think people will find most interesting about the topic. The challenges of the methodology and some implications for the exhibit design are also covered.