scholarly journals Models in Science Communication Policy

2016 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 5 ◽  
Author(s):  
Per Hetland
Keyword(s):  
Public Engagement ◽  
Science Communication ◽  
Public Involvement ◽  
Science And Technology ◽  
Policy Instruments ◽  
Communication Policy ◽  
Model Framework ◽  
Dialogue Model ◽  
Deficit Model ◽  
Hybrid Forums

<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>

scholarly journals From top-down to bottom-up: a short history of science communication policy in Japan

2017 ◽  
Vol 16 (03) ◽  
pp. Y01 ◽  
Author(s):  
Masataka Watanabe
Keyword(s):  
Science Communication ◽  
Science And Technology ◽  
White Paper ◽  
Public Understanding ◽  
Main Theme ◽  
Ministry Of Education ◽  
Communication Policy ◽  
Top Down ◽  
Sports Science ◽  
Understanding Of Science

Japan's policy of “public understanding of science” (PUS) has shifted to “science communication” since 2003. That year, there were a number of simultaneous developments with regard to science communication. The key report that advocated for the promotion of science communication and a textbook on science communication were published then. The most important consequence was that the report triggered a policy change at the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT). The following year, MEXT published the White Paper on Science and Technology 2004, the main theme of which was concerned with science communication. Although the shift may have begun as a somewhat top-down contrivance, it has subsequently sunk down firm roots throughout Japan. In 2011 the Japanese Association for Science Communication was founded. People's awareness of science communication was significantly changed by the Great East Japan Earthquake that occurred on March 11, 2011. Why was such a policy shift possible? How did such a cascade effect occur? This paper will discuss the reasons behind these phenomena.

scholarly journals Mapping Case Studies of Public Engagement and Participation in Science and Technology

2021 ◽  
Vol 34 (2) ◽  
pp. 46-64
Author(s):  
Paulo De Loureiro ◽  
Hugo Horta ◽  
João M. Santos
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Evidence ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
Public Engagement ◽  
Science Communication ◽  
Science And Technology ◽  
Knowledge Domains ◽  
Communication Models ◽  
Emerging Patterns

In recent years, increasing criticism has been levelled against case study based research on public engagement and participation in science and technology (PEST). Most critics argue that such case studies are highly contextual and fail to provide global, holistic and systemic views of public engagement phenomena. In this study, we mapped the case study literature on PEST by identifying a robust sample of articles, and analysed it looking for emerging patterns that could provide empirical evidence for new frameworks of public engagement design and analysis. Results show that the case study based literature on PEST continues to grow, although concentrated in a few countries and knowledge domains. The trends that emerged from the sample reveal high centralisation and planning and suggest that deficit science communication models are still common. We argue that future frameworks may focus on decentralising hierarchical power and dependency relationships between agents.

The Information Deficit Model and Climate Change Communication

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brianne Suldovsky
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Public Engagement ◽  
News Media ◽  
Science Communication ◽  
Communication Model ◽  
Climate Change Communication ◽  
Scientific Publications ◽  
Deficit Model ◽  
The Public ◽  
Change Communication

Many publics remain divided about the existence and consequences of anthropogenic climate change despite scientific consensus. A popular approach to climate change communication, and science communication more generally, is the information deficit model. The deficit model assumes that gaps between scientists and the public are a result of a lack of information or knowledge. As a remedy for this gap, the deficit model is a one-way communication model where information flows from experts to publics in an effort to change individuals’ attitudes, beliefs, or behaviors. Approaches to climate change communication that reflect the deficit model include websites, social media, mobile applications, news media, documentaries and films, books, and scientific publications and technical reports. The deficit model has been highly criticized for being overly simplistic and inaccurately characterizing the relationship between knowledge, attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors, particularly for politically polarized issues like climate change. Even so, it continues to be an integral part of climate change communication research and practice. In an effort to address the inadequacies of the deficit model, scholars and practitioners often utilize alternative forms of public engagement, including the contextual model, the public engagement model, and the lay expertise model. Each approach to public engagement carries with it a unique set of opportunities and challenges. Future work in climate change communication should explore when and how to most effectively use the models of public engagement that are available.

scholarly journals Citizens, Scientists, and Enablers: A Tripartite Model for Citizen Science Projects

Diversity ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (7) ◽  
pp. 309
Author(s):  
Rhian A. Salmon ◽  
Samuel Rammell ◽  
Myfanwy T. Emeny ◽  
Stephen Hartley
Keyword(s):  
Case Studies ◽  
Nature Of Science ◽  
Citizen Science ◽  
Public Engagement ◽  
Science Communication ◽  
Tripartite Model ◽  
Science Project ◽  
Science Projects ◽  
Emerging Issues ◽  
Citizen Science Project

In this paper, we focus on different roles in citizen science projects, and their respective relationships. We propose a tripartite model that recognises not only citizens and scientists, but also an important third role, which we call the ‘enabler’. In doing so, we acknowledge that additional expertise and skillsets are often present in citizen science projects, but are frequently overlooked in associated literature. We interrogate this model by applying it to three case studies and explore how the success and sustainability of a citizen science project requires all roles to be acknowledged and interacting appropriately. In this era of ‘wicked problems’, the nature of science and science communication has become more complex. In order to address critical emerging issues, a greater number of stakeholders are engaging in multi-party partnerships and research is becoming increasingly interdisciplinary. Within this context, explicitly acknowledging the role and motivations of everyone involved can provide a framework for enhanced project transparency, delivery, evaluation and impact. By adapting our understanding of citizen science to better recognise the complexity of the organisational systems within which they operate, we propose an opportunity to strengthen the collaborative delivery of both valuable scientific research and public engagement.

Re-visioning public engagement with emerging technology: A digital methods experiment on ‘vertical farming’

2021 ◽  
pp. 096366252199097
Author(s):  
Laurie Waller ◽  
Mascha Gugganig
Keyword(s):  
Public Engagement ◽  
Science And Technology ◽  
Software Tool ◽  
Emerging Technology ◽  
Public Attention ◽  
Digital Platforms ◽  
Vertical Farming ◽  
Mapping Process ◽  
Digital Methods

This article presents the results of a public engagement experiment on a project trialling ‘vertical farming’, an emerging technology addressing urban food issues. The experiment developed within an issue mapping project, analysing debates about vertical farming on the digital platforms, Twitter and Instagram. The article presents a software tool designed to engage ‘offline’ publics in the issue mapping process, using images collected from Instagram. We describe testing this software tool with visitors to exhibitions of vertical farming in two science and technology museums. Our findings highlight the predominance of commercial publicity about vertical farming on Twitter and Instagram and the organisation of public attention around technological novelty. The article discusses the challenges such publicity dynamics pose to mapping issues on platforms. We suggest some ways digital methods might contribute to public engagement with technologies, like vertical farming, that are a focus of organised commercialised innovation.

scholarly journals Issues concerning the science communication ethics of science and technology museums

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.

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

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.

scholarly journals The 2016 Amatrice seismic sequence in the Media

2016 ◽  
Vol 59 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gemma Musacchio ◽  
Giovanna Piangiamaore
Keyword(s):  
Risk Reduction ◽  
Public Engagement ◽  
Science Communication ◽  
Main Shock ◽  
Active Part ◽  
Seismic Sequence ◽  
News Stories ◽  
Media Agenda ◽  
First Results ◽  
The Media

<p><em>Media's </em><em>power in setting the public’s agenda for discussion can affect </em><em>perception and debate upon disasters. </em><em></em></p><p><em>In the frame of a dialogical approach to science communication, </em><em>we challenge here the paradigm for which issues that experts considered valuable are not in the Media's agenda. We studied the way Media addressed the Amatrice 2016 sequence and</em><em> discuss story-telling. Specific indicators were analyzed to assess to what extent the scientific coverage, risk reduction and damage issues are covered. </em><em></em></p><p><em>First results show that Media do think valuable to provide public with an in-depth </em><em>scientific coverage and refers to authoritative sources. As time goes by and aftershocks Magnitude decreases a more reflexive thinking is triggered; news stories include more risk reduction indicators than damage. Although memory of past earthquakes is always part of the story one month after the main shock risk reduction disappear from the media agenda. </em></p><p><em>We also explored the level of public engagement in risk reduction and found out that</em><em> Media still seem not believe that citizens should be active part of the debate upon their own safety.</em></p>

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