scholarly journals A comprehensive and multidisciplinary approach to science communication

2020 ◽  
Vol 19 (03) ◽  
pp. R02
Author(s):  
Erik Stengler
Keyword(s):  
Public Engagement ◽  
Science Communication ◽  
Multidisciplinary Approach ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Fields Of Study ◽  
Public Engagement With Science ◽  
Comprehensive Treatise ◽  
Practice Of Science

A comprehensive treatise on science communication from the perspectives of scholars of multiple disciplines, this book contributes a unique compendium of virtually all fields of study that have something to say about the theory and practice of public engagement with science. It is an enriching companion for research, teaching and practice of science communication in all its forms.

scholarly journals How Do Young Adults Engage With Science and Research on Social Media? Some Preliminary Findings and an Agenda for Future Research

2018 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 205630511879772 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eszter Hargittai ◽  
Tobias Füchslin ◽  
Mike S. Schäfer
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Young Adults ◽  
Public Engagement ◽  
Science Communication ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Research Material ◽  
Considerable Research ◽  
Public Engagement With Science ◽  
Celebrity News ◽  
Science And Research

While considerable research has looked at how people use the Internet for sharing and engaging with various types of content from celebrity news to politics, very little of this work has considered how non-specialists interact with science and research material on social media. This article reviews literature on public engagement with science to note that this area is ripe for research on social-media-based engagement in particular. Drawing on a survey of American young adults’ online experiences, we show that using social media for science and research is at least as likely if not more so as engagement with other topics from similarly serious to lighter domains. We also find that platform matters with young adults much more likely to engage with such content on Facebook rather than on Twitter. We end by proposing more focus on this domain in the area of science communication and work on social media.

scholarly journals Assessing Motivations and Barriers to Science Outreach within Academia: A Mixed-Methods Survey

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicole C Woitowich ◽  
Geoffrey C Hunt ◽  
Lutfiyya N Muhammad ◽  
Jeanne Garbarino
Keyword(s):  
Mixed Methods ◽  
Public Engagement ◽  
Science Communication ◽  
Academic Community ◽  
Science Outreach ◽  
Barriers To Participation ◽  
Annual Basis ◽  
Actual Impact ◽  
Potential Source ◽  
Practice Of Science

The practice of science outreach is more necessary than ever. However, a disconnect exists between the stated goals for science outreach and its actual impact. In order to examine one potential source of this disconnect, we undertook a survey-based study to explore whether barriers to participation (either intrinsic or extrinsic) in science outreach exist within the academic community. We received responses to our survey from 530 individuals, the vast majority of whom engage in some type of science outreach activity on an annual basis. Those who engage in outreach report doing so for both personal and altruistic reasons, and having high (yet varied) levels of comfort with performing outreach activities. Respondents also report the existence of several significant yet surmountable barriers to participation, including lack of time and funding. Our findings demonstrate that both levels of participation in, and attitudes toward, science outreach within the academic community are generally favorable, suggesting that the general ineffectiveness of science outreach is due to other causes. We place our findings within the context of the broader science outreach, science communication and public engagement literature. We make recommendations on how existing approaches and infrastructure can, and must, be changed in order to improve the practice.

scholarly journals A survey to gather perspectives of DBT/Wellcome Trust India Alliance-funded researchers on public engagement with science

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. 269
Author(s):  
Sarah Iqbal ◽  
Banya Kar
Keyword(s):  
Public Engagement ◽  
Science Communication ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Funding Agency ◽  
Contributing Factors ◽  
The Public ◽  
Structural Support ◽  
Professional Recognition ◽  
Science Funding ◽  
Public Engagement With Science

Lately, the Indian research ecosystem has seen an upward trend in scientists showing interest in communicating their science and engaging with non-scientific audiences; however, the number and variety of science communication or public engagement activities undertaken formally by scientists remains low in the country. There could be many contributing factors for this trend. To explore this further, the science funding public charity in India, DBT/Wellcome Trust India Alliance (India Alliance), in a first of its kind of study by a funding agency in India, surveyed its 243 research grantees in November 2020 requesting their views on public engagement with science in India through an online survey. The survey included both quantitative as well as open-ended questions to assess the understanding of, participation in, and attitude of India Alliance Fellows/Grantees towards public engagement with research, identify the enablers, challenges, and barriers to public engagement for India Alliance Fellows/Grantees, understand the specific needs (training/capacity-building, funding, etc.) and develop recommendations for India Alliance as well as for the larger scientific ecosystem in the country. The survey showed that India Alliance grantees are largely motivated to engage with the public about science or their research but lack professional recognition and incentives, training and structural support to undertake public engagement activities.

scholarly journals Public engagement with science—Origins, motives and impact in academic literature and science policy

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (7) ◽  
pp. e0254201
Author(s):  
Peter Weingart ◽  
Marina Joubert ◽  
Karien Connoway
Keyword(s):  
Science Policy ◽  
Public Engagement ◽  
Science Communication ◽  
The United States ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Diverse Range ◽  
Policy Documents ◽  
Academic Literature ◽  
Public Engagement With Science ◽  
The Impact

‘Public engagement with science’ has become a ‘buzzword’ reflecting a concern about the widening gap between science and society and efforts to bridge this gap. This study is a comprehensive analysis of the development of the ‘engagement’ rhetoric in the pertinent academic literature on science communication and in science policy documents. By way of a content analysis of articles published in three leading science communication journals and a selection of science policy documents from the United Kingdom (UK), the United States of America (USA), the European Union (EU), and South Africa (SA), the variety of motives underlying this rhetoric, as well as the impact it has on science policies, are analyzed. The analysis of the science communication journals reveals an increasingly vague and inclusive definition of ‘engagement’ as well as of the ‘public’ being addressed, and a diverse range of motives driving the rhetoric. Similar observations can be made about the science policy documents. This study corroborates an earlier diagnosis that rhetoric is running ahead of practice and suggests that communication and engagement with clearly defined stakeholder groups about specific problems and the pertinent scientific knowledge will be a more successful manner of ‘engagement’.

scholarly journals Beyond dissemination — science communication as impact

2015 ◽  
Vol 14 (03) ◽  
pp. C01 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura Fogg-Rogers ◽  
Ana Margarida Sardo ◽  
Ann Grand
Keyword(s):  
Public Engagement ◽  
Science Communication ◽  
Public Research ◽  
Research Practice ◽  
Research Projects ◽  
International Conference ◽  
Public Engagement With Science ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Operating Activities

The drive for impact from research projects presents a dilemma for science communication researchers and practitioners — should public engagement be regarded only as a mechanism for providing evidence of the impact of research or as itself a form of impact? This editorial describes the curation of five commentaries resulting from the recent international conference ‘Science in Public: Research, Practice, Impact’. The commentaries reveal the issues science communicators may face in implementing public engagement with science that has an impact; from planning and co-producing projects with impact in mind, to organising and operating activities which meet the needs of our publics, and finally measuring and evaluating the effects on scientists and publics in order to ‘capture impact’.

scholarly journals Exploration of social cues in technology-mediated science communication: a multidiscipline analysis on ‘Ask Me Anything (AMA)’ sessions in Reddit r/science

2021 ◽  
Vol 20 (07) ◽  
pp. A04
Author(s):  
Ying Tang ◽  
Jessica M. Abbazio ◽  
Khe Foon Hew ◽  
Noriko Hara
Keyword(s):  
Content Analysis ◽  
Public Engagement ◽  
Mixed Method ◽  
Science Communication ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Social Cues ◽  
The Other ◽  
Mixed Method Study ◽  
Coding Scheme ◽  
Public Engagement With Science

Social cues are used to facilitate online science communication, yet little is known about how they may play a role in online public engagement with science sites. This mixed-method study investigates r/science Ask Me Anything (AMA) sessions on Reddit through content analysis and an online survey to identify the types and variations of social cues manifested in six r/science AMAs across varying disciplines. The study's contributions are twofold. One is to investigate social cue uses in online science communication; the other is to develop a coding scheme for social cues that incorporates both positive and negative social cues in the analysis.

scholarly journals Communicating astronomy with the public: perspectives of an international community of practice

2021 ◽  
Vol 20 (03) ◽  
pp. A11
Author(s):  
Sara Anjos ◽  
Pedro Russo ◽  
Anabela Carvalho
Keyword(s):  
Communities Of Practice ◽  
Community Of Practice ◽  
Public Engagement ◽  
Science Communication ◽  
Academic Research ◽  
International Community ◽  
The Public ◽  
Public Engagement With Science ◽  
Public Perspectives

Communities of practice in science communication can make important contributions to public engagement with science but are under-researched. In this article, we look at the perspectives of a community of practice in astronomy communication regarding (relations with) their public(s). Most participants in this study consider that public(s) have several deficits and vulnerabilities. Moreover, practitioners have little to no contact with (and therefore make no use of) academic research on science communication. We argue that collaboration between science communication researchers and practitioners could benefit the science-public relationship and that communities of practice may be critical to that purpose.

scholarly journals Going rogue: what scientists can learn about Twitter communication from “alt” government accounts

PeerJ ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
pp. e12407
Author(s):  
Matthew J. Wilson ◽  
Elizabeth K. Perkin
Keyword(s):  
Public Engagement ◽  
Science Communication ◽  
Popular Science ◽  
The United States ◽  
Federal Agencies ◽  
Evidence Based ◽  
Word Choice ◽  
Public Engagement With Science ◽  
Average Scientist ◽  
Active Restriction

The inauguration of President Trump in the United States led to the active restriction of science communication from federal agencies, resulting in the creation of many unofficial “alt” Twitter accounts to maintain communication. Alt accounts had many followers (e.g., 15 accounts had > 100,000) and received a large amount of media attention, making them ideal for better understanding how differences in messaging can affect public engagement with science on microblogging platforms. We analyzed tweets produced by alt and corresponding official agency accounts to compare the two groups and determine if specific features of a tweet made them more likely to be retweeted or liked to help the average scientist potentially reach a broader audience on Twitter. We found adding links, images, hashtags, and mentions, as well as expressing angry and annoying sentiments all increased retweets and likes. Evidence-based terms such as “peer-review” had high retweet rates but linking directly to peer-reviewed publications decreased attention compared to popular science websites. Word choice and attention did not reflect official or alt account types, indicating topic is more important than source. The number of tweets generated and attention received by alt accounts has decreased since their creation, demonstrating the importance of timeliness in science communication on social media. Together our results show potential pathways for scientists to increase efficacy in Twitter communications.

scholarly journals The conflation of motives of science communication — causes, consequences, remedies

2019 ◽  
Vol 18 (03) ◽  
pp. Y01 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Weingart ◽  
Marina Joubert
Keyword(s):  
Public Engagement ◽  
Driving Force ◽  
Science Communication ◽  
Political Rhetoric ◽  
Communication Practice ◽  
Public Engagement With Science

We explore and discuss the diverse motives that drive science communication, pointing out that political motives are the major driving force behind most science communication programmes including so-called public engagement with science with the result that educational and promotional objectives are blurred and science communication activities are rarely evaluated meaningfully. Since this conflation of motives of science communication and the gap between political rhetoric and science communication practice could threaten the credibility of science, we argue for the restoration of a crucial distinction between two types of science communication: educational/dialogic vs promotional/persuasive.

scholarly journals Draft Chapter – Science and the Swiss Public: Science-related Perceptions and Sources of Information in Switzerland

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
“Communicating Sciences and Arts in Times of Digital Media”
Keyword(s):  
Digital Media ◽  
Public Engagement ◽  
Science Communication ◽  
The State ◽  
Expert Group ◽  
Sources Of Information ◽  
Public Science ◽  
Arts And Sciences ◽  
Public Engagement With Science ◽  
Group Report

"Science and the Swiss Public" is an Excerpt from of the Upcoming Expert Group Report “Science in Public: The State of Science Communication and Public Engagement with Science in Switzerland”, to be published in 2021 by the Expert Group “Communicating Sciences and Arts in Times of Digital Media” of the Swiss Academies of Arts and Sciences. Readers are Invited to Provide Feedback as Outlined on the First Pages of the Preprint. Cite as: A+ Expert Group “Communicating Sciences and Arts in Times of Digital Media” (2020). Draft Chapter – Science and the Swiss Public: Science-related Perceptions and Sources of Information in Switzerland.

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