As the world approaches the change of the millennium, intense public interest has become focused on the possible consequences of potential failures in computer technologies. These potential failures arise because the mechanism for storing and calculating dates does not adequately differentiate between the turn of the previous century (i.e., 1900) and the turn of the millennium (i.e., 2000 or "Y2K"). Though technical experts generally predict that problems are likely to be either non-existent or minor, they cannot conclude with certainty that no problems will occur. Thus, the broad public, exposed to an array of press reports concerning Y2K and its possible consequences for their lives, can only conclude that the problem is not completely understood and that certain solutions have not been achieved.
Research on perception of Y2K risks will extend our understanding of how public risk perceptions are formed in real-world, complex social situations, and will improve our ability to predict how social, psychological and cultural factors influence society's responses to risk. Over the course of 1999, a series of focused survey studies will gather data on public perceptions of Y2K risks based on current research on risk perception, communication and risk management. The Y2K event poses a unique opportunity to examine how perceptions of risk evolve in response to social processes and to advance current theories of risk perception to take greater account of how risk perceptions are formed over time and in response to a changing information environment.
