Science of Risk Assessment
3/4/2020
Examples of Perceived vs Actual Risks
Source: B. M. Ayyub, Risk Analysis in Engineering and Economics [Internet]. 2nd ed. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press/Chapman & Hall; 2014, Table 2.9, p. 69.
Table 1: Risk Rankings for 29 Activities/Technologies Assigned by a sample of Risk Assessment Experts, the League of Women Voters, and College Students.
| Activity/Technology | League of Women Voters | College Students | Experts |
|---|---|---|---|
| Motor Vehicles | 2 | 5 | 1 |
| Smoking | 4 | 3 | 2 |
| Alcoholic Beverages | 6 | 7 | 3 |
| Handguns | 3 | 2 | 4 |
| Surgery | 10 | 11 | 5 |
| Motorcycles | 5 | 6 | 6 |
| x-rays | 22 | 7 | 7 |
| Pesticides | 9 | 4 | 8 |
| Electric Power (Non-Nuclear) | 18 | 19 | 9 |
| Swimming | 19 | 29 | 10 |
| Contraceptives | 20 | 9 | 11 |
| General Aviation | 7 | 15 | 12 |
| Large Construction | 12 | 14 | 13 |
| Food Preservatives | 25 | 12 | 14 |
| Bicycles | 16 | 24 | 15 |
| Commercial Aviation | 17 | 16 | 16 |
| Police Work | 8 | 8 | 17 |
| Fire Fighting | 11 | 10 | 18 |
| Railroads | 24 | 23 | 19 |
| Nuclear Power | 1 | 1 | 20 |
| Food Coloring | 26 | 20 | 21 |
| Home Applications | 29 | 27 | 22 |
| Hunting | 13 | 18 | 23 |
| Prescription Antibiotics | 28 | 21 | 24 |
| Spray Cans | 14 | 13 | 25 |
| High School or College Sports | 23 | 26 | 26 |
| Power Mowers | 27 | 28 | 27 |
| Mountain Climbing | 15 | 22 | 28 |
| Skiing | 21 | 25 | 29 |
Plot Data
Option 1: Stacked Bar Chart
Option 2: Binned Dot Plot
Option 3: Pairwise Plot
