2026 ALISE Annual Conference

This study explores how individuals from various cultural backgrounds questioning to make sense of autonomous vehicles. Grounded in Dervin's Sense-Making Theory, this study investigates how individuals frame concerns, expectations, and evaluations about safety, trust, accountability, usability, and social context. Using a qualitative approach, the study shifts the focus from adoption outcomes to the inquiry processes that precede them, providing insight into how culturally situated questioning influences public understanding of emerging transportation technologies.