'Leaps of Faith' and MMR: An Empirical Study of Trust

Abstract

Möllering has argued for sociological research on trust that pays attention to the ‘fine details of interpretation’ and begins from the perspectives of those engaged in relations of trust. In this article we explore what it would mean to take up Möllering’s challenge to explore the interpretative elements of trust and the ‘leaps of faith’ trusting entails. We do this through an empirical study of parental and professional talk about the MMR (measles, mumps and rubella) vaccination. We examine trust as operating in a number of interrelated ways: as a practice based on knowledge; as a ‘leap of faith’ experienced through relationality and familiarity; as working at a system level; and as shaped by relations of governance and by anxieties to do with the nature of social and technological change. Through this analysis, we suggest how an interpretive approach to thinking about trust is a worthwhile exercise.