Persistence of the Deficit Model in Japan's Science Communication: Analysis of White Papers on Science and Technology

<div>Three models of expert-public interaction in science and technology communication are central: the dissemination model (often called the deficit model), the dialogue model, and the participation model. These three models constitute a multi-model framework for studying science and technology communication and are often described along an evolutionary continuum, from dissemination to dialogue, and finally to participation. Underlying this description is an evaluation claiming that the two latter are “better” than the first. However, these three models can coexist as policy instruments, and do not exclude each other. Since 1975, concerns with public engagement over time have led to a mode that is more dialogical across the three models within science and technology communication policy in Norway. Through an active policy, sponsored hybrid forums that encourage participation have gradually been developed. In addition, social media increasingly allows for spontaneous public involvement in an increasing number of hybrid forums. Dialogue and participation thus have become crucial parts of science and technology communication and format public engagement and expertise.</div><div> </div>

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Issues concerning the science communication ethics of science and technology museums

Cultures of Science ◽

10.1177/20966083211026283 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 209660832110262

Author(s):

Xiang Li ◽

Xuan Liu ◽

Huiping Chu

Keyword(s):

Science Communication ◽

Ethical Issues ◽

Science And Technology ◽

Scientific Culture ◽

Communication Ethics ◽

Ethics Of Science ◽

Contemporary Science

This paper reviews the acceleration of what is known as the ‘museumization’ process globally in the context of the New Museum Movement, and the particular mission of science and technology museums in representing scientific culture. It analyses the significance of science and technology museums in presenting critical concepts of contemporary science and technology, such as the controversies and uncertainties of science, as well as the diverse subjects that need to be involved in the process of representation, thereby underscoring the complexity of the ethical issues of science communication faced by science and technology museums.

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Sensational Science A Rhetorical Analysis of Public Science Education in Entertainment Programming

10.32920/ryerson.14656482 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Salman J. Qureshi

Keyword(s):

Science Communication ◽

Rhetorical Criticism ◽

Rhetorical Analysis ◽

Research Paper ◽

Small Sample ◽

Television Programs ◽

Scientific Content ◽

Entertainment Media ◽

Deficit Model ◽

Scientific Authority

Film and television media’s adherence to the deficit model has been under scrutiny by science communication scholars for decades. This model suggests that building public trust in scientific authority is as simple as ‘dispensing’ scientific facts to a “scientifically illiterate general public” through mass media (Kirby, 2003). However, despite a virtual scholarly consensus that the deficit model is deepening the public’s misunderstanding of science/scientists, it remains relevant as a method for building trust in scientific authority (Kirby; Vidal, 2018). Using Sonja K. Foss’s generic rhetorical criticism methodology melded with rhetorical film criticism, this MRP assesses the narrative structures, tropes, and stylistic motivations that sustain the deficit model in modern entertainment media. Focusing on didactic scenes, this research paper identifies the rhetorical strategies deployed by the respective directors of the following films and television programs: Interstellar (2014), Stranger Things (2016), Event Horizon (1997), and Cosmos: A Personal Voyage (1980). The programming that this research paper explores were selected to represent a small sample of both accurate and inaccurate portrayals of theoretical science and to discover if their organizing principles adhere to the deficit model. For science communication scholars this research will highlight effective methodologies of communicating scientific content in narrative formats and serve as an important step in untangling the mystery of the deficit model’s longevity in popular media.

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Studying behaviours and attitudes towards science and technology

Impact ◽

10.21820/23987073.2021.4.27 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 2021 (4) ◽

pp. 27-29

Author(s):

Naoko Kato-Nitta

Keyword(s):

Cultural Capital ◽

Social Stratification ◽

Science Communication ◽

Data Science ◽

Social Scientist ◽

Science And Technology ◽

Public Understanding ◽

Communication Model ◽

Statistical Mathematics ◽

Understanding Of Science

What makes research important is an important philosophical question that is a consideration for many researchers. Further important considerations are the public's perception of science and how an individual's perception of science and technology is shaped. These are some of the complex ideas that social scientist Dr Naoko Kato-Nitta, Department of Statistical Data Science, Institute of Statistical Mathematics, Japan, is exploring. She is working on a series of projects related to public perceptions and attitudes towards different scientific disciplines and fields. She hopes that answering such important questions will facilitate the creation of a science communication model for the public understanding of science. Kato-Nitta's research focuses on human behaviour and psychology and how it relates to issues at the interface of technology and society. A key question that she is seeking to answer from the standpoint of cultural capital is how the extent of the general public's participation in science communication can be determined. In the first research to connect social stratification theory and science communication research, Kato-Nitta divided the concept of Bourdieu's cultural capital into two sub-concepts: scientific and technical cultural capital and literary and artistic cultural capital. She went on to consider how these two types of cultural capital affect the exhibit-viewing behaviours of the general public.

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Research and Network Opportunities in the Field of Science Communication

Improving Scientific Communication for Lifelong Learners - Advances in Higher Education and Professional Development ◽

10.4018/978-1-7998-4534-8.ch010 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 180-194

Author(s):

Rabia Tas

Keyword(s):

Science Communication ◽

Science And Technology ◽

Target Groups ◽

International Networks ◽

Research Activities ◽

Audience Interaction ◽

Fast Development ◽

Technological Developments ◽

Software And Hardware ◽

The Right

Science and technology have been developing at a great pace. There are numerous breakthrough innovations and groundbreaking improvements in almost every aspect of life. Undoubtedly, another field experiencing such a fast development is communication. Communication has been following and adapting related technological developments not only in terms of software and hardware but also in terms of targeting the right audience and creating the audience interaction. While developments in science and technology feed communication, communication disseminates the outcomes of innovative studies to the defined target groups. Science communication becomes a part of this mutual relation. This study is focused on research funds, opportunities, and international networks in the field of science communication. Within this context, challenges in research activities and expected impact of research outcomes will be examined in terms of science communication. Also, the role and importance of networks in science communication will be examined in line with research funds and support provided for this field.

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Science, Values, and Science Communication: Competencies for Pushing Beyond the Deficit Model

Science Communication ◽

10.1177/1075547019847484 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 41 (3) ◽

pp. 378-388 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Sherry Seethaler ◽

John H. Evans ◽

Cathy Gere ◽

Ramya M. Rajagopalan

Keyword(s):

Professional Development ◽

Decision Making ◽

Science Communication ◽

Scientific Research ◽

Effective Communication ◽

Transmission Model ◽

Knowledge Transmission ◽

Communication Research ◽

Deficit Model ◽

Communication Competencies

The deficit (knowledge transmission) model of science communication is widespread and resistant to change, highlighting the limited influence of science communication research on practice. We argue that scholar–practitioner partnerships are key to operationalizing science communication scholarship. To demonstrate, we present a transformative product of one such partnership: a set of ethics and values competencies to foster effective communication with diverse audiences about scientific research and its implications. The 10 competencies, focused on acknowledging values, understanding complexities of decision making, strategies to deal with uncertainty, and diversifying expertise and authority, provide a guiding framework for re-envisioning science communication professional development.

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Muslim Perceptions of Biological Evolution: A Critical Review of Quantitative and Qualitative Research

Science, Belief and Society ◽

10.1332/policypress/9781529206944.003.0008 ◽

2019 ◽

pp. 147-170

Author(s):

Jessica Carlisle ◽

Salman Hameed ◽

Fern Elsdon-Baker

Keyword(s):

Science Communication ◽

Biological Evolution ◽

Science Research ◽

Public Understanding ◽

Or Education ◽

Deficit Model ◽

Theory Of Evolution ◽

Quantitative And Qualitative Research ◽

Understanding Of Science ◽

Science In Society

The topic of Muslims’ attitudes towards the theory of biological evolution has received increasing attention at the margins of the fields of public understanding of society, science communication or education and science in society. The methodology and methods employed in this work are primarily informed by research on attitudes towards evolution in the ‘West’, particularly in the US where the issue is highly politicized. Small, interview based qualitative and larger, survey based quantitative studies have explored degrees of acceptance or rejection of non-human and human evolution in a number of Muslim majority and Muslim minority contexts. The underlying rationale for these studies is often underpinned by a ‘deficit model’ in which Islam, or being Muslim, is usually posited as a particular obstacle to public understanding and acceptance of theory of evolution. This chapter summarizes these studies, analyzes the particularities of how deficit model approaches might be implicitly informing their findings, and reflects on the lack of reflexivity in much public understanding of science research on Muslim contexts.

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The Australian Science Centre Movement 1980–2000: Part 1—Questacon, the National Science and Technology Centre

Historical Records of Australian Science ◽

10.1071/hr15008 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 26 (2) ◽

pp. 122 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Chris Bryant ◽

Mike Gore ◽

Sue Stocklmayer

Keyword(s):

Driving Force ◽

Science Communication ◽

Public Attitudes ◽

Science And Technology ◽

Human Face ◽

Hands On ◽

Science Centre ◽

National Science ◽

National University ◽

Australian Science

Part 1: Scholarly concerns over science communication and in particular public attitudes towards and engagement with science have continued for almost half a century, but the establishment of a ‘hands-on' science centre in Canberra in 1980 put practice ahead of theory and led to the building of Questacon—the National Science and Technology Centre in 1988. The driving force behind this development was Australian National University physicist Dr Mike Gore. Funding came from the Australian and Japanese Governments—the latter a bicentennial gift—and a team of ‘explainers' at the centre helped visitors to appreciate that this science centre was not a museum but a place where science had a human face.

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