Public Understanding of Science
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Published By Sage Publications

1361-6609, 0963-6625

2022 ◽  
pp. 096366252110572
Author(s):  
Michelle L. Edwards ◽  
Caden Ziegler

This study examines science communication within Ask Me Anything sessions hosted by US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration scientists on Reddit. In addition to considering a unique social media platform, our work makes an important contribution in revealing the limitations of a traditional approach to studying science communication and modeling an alternative. First, using an “assembled” approach, we qualitatively explore themes in National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration scientists’ posts and consider how they reflect the goals of “deficit” and “dialogue” models. Second, using a “disassembling” approach, inspired by Davies and Horst and actor-network theory, we more deeply examine our experiences studying the Ask Me Anything sessions. We then demonstrate how this alternative approach identifies “hidden” human and non-human actants that may have shaped science communication as “mediators.” We use these insights to reject the common assumption that science communication on social media occurs solely and directly between scientists and publics.


2022 ◽  
pp. 096366252110657
Author(s):  
Sabrina Heike Kessler ◽  
Mike S. Schäfer ◽  
David Johann ◽  
Heiko Rauhut

The mental models that individual scholars have of science communication – how it works, what it is supposed to achieve and so on – shape the way these academics actually communicate to the public. But these mental models, and their prevalence among scholars, have rarely been analysed. Drawing on a large-scale, representative web survey of academics at universities in Germany, Austria and Switzerland ( n = 15,778) from 2020, we identify three mental models that are prevalent among scholars, and that correspond to conceptual models found in science communication theory: ‘Public Understanding of Science’, ‘Public Engagement with Science’ and ‘Strategic Science Communication’. The results suggest that the ‘Strategic Science Communication’ model is particularly prevalent among academics in precarious employment and female scholars. Extrinsically motivated academics, that is, those under pressure to win grants, also seem to use science communication more strategically. The ‘Public Engagement’ model is prevalent among older and female scholars, while ‘Public Understanding’ is particularly prevalent among scholars who find their work especially meaningful. Findings also reveal that academics’ mental models largely align with the way they practice science communication.


2021 ◽  
pp. 096366252110583
Author(s):  
Marta Entradas

This research note reports empirical observations on public communication of research institutes within universities, using data from an international quantitative study in eight countries ( N = 2030). The note aims to contribute to discussions on the role of science communication at research universities. We observe growing science communication at the institute level, which indicates, at a first glance, a trend towards decentralised communication of science. We argue that these might be places where science communication and public engagement can thrive. Rather than claiming to be conclusive, our goal here is to stimulate discussion on the ongoing changes in the organisational science communication landscape, and the consequences it may have for practice.


2021 ◽  
pp. 096366252110604
Author(s):  
İsminaz Doğan ◽  
Lemi Baruh ◽  
Zeynep Cemalcilar ◽  
Ozan Kuru ◽  
Kerem Yıldırım ◽  
...  

Based on role congruity theory, we investigated how gender bias may influence public attitudes toward the vaccine in Turkey. Using a between-subjects design, we tested whether an emphasis on the female versus the male scientist as the vaccine’s inventor in a news story influenced attitudes about the BioNTech vaccine and vaccination intentions. Partly confirming role congruity theory, three-way interaction results from 665 participants demonstrated that among male participants with a stronger belief in traditional gender roles (compared to males with lower belief), the presence of the female inventor, either by herself or together with the male inventor, decreased the perceived efficacy and safety of the vaccine and reduced intentions to be vaccinated by the BioNTech vaccine. We did not observe such differences for women. These findings highlight how gender bias may influence individuals’ information processing and decision making in a way that may have negative consequences for public health.


2021 ◽  
pp. 096366252110615
Author(s):  
Bastiaan T. Rutjens ◽  
Natalia Zarzeczna ◽  
Romy van der Lee

Recent research has identified spirituality as an important contributor to vaccine scepticism and low faith in science, particularly in WEIRD (Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich and Democratic) nations. In the present study, we further tested the generalizability of these findings in a religious South-Eastern European country – Greece, with more extensive measures of key constructs. We replicate previous work using measures of improved construct validity. Spirituality was found to be the strongest predictor of vaccine scepticism and low faith in science. In addition, low science literacy was also predictive of vaccine rejection. Climate change scepticism was not associated with spirituality but with political conservatism, which corroborates previous findings. These results provide further evidence for two previously made observations: science scepticism is heterogeneous, and spirituality is an important factor in shaping science rejection.


2021 ◽  
pp. 096366252110519
Author(s):  
Larry Au

One controversial area of direct-to-consumer genetic testing in China is “genetic talent testing” for children. In this study, I show that while experts criticize genetic talent testing as unscientific, the persistence of genetic talent testing is not merely a product of parents’ scientific illiteracy. Instead, genetic talent testing reflects parents’ pragmatic use of technology in response to the parenting pressures in contemporary China. Parents see the results of genetic talent testing as offering an advantage for their children when combined with the intensive parenting strategy of precision education. Drawing on the sociology of testing, I argue how genetic talent testing in China is a product of broader concerns about population quality and can potentially reshape how parents imagine quality children through the theory of multiple intelligences. My study of this “off label” use of direct-to-consumer genetic testing also suggests that scientists need to broaden their imagination of potential misuses of their technologies.


2021 ◽  
pp. 096366252110568
Author(s):  
Niels G. Mede ◽  
Mike S. Schäfer

In many countries, the COVID-19 pandemic led to increased public support for societal institutions including science, a phenomenon described as “rally-round-the-flag” dynamic. However, it is unclear if this dynamic has also reduced public resentment toward science such as science-related populist attitudes, that is, the preference of people’s common sense over allegedly elitist scientific knowledge. We test this, relying on individual-level data from panel surveys before and during the pandemic in Switzerland. Results show that science-related populist attitudes decreased after the pandemic started. The decrease was more pronounced among people who had been strong supporters of science-related populism prior to the pandemic, but otherwise spread equally across different sociodemographic and attitudinal segments of the Swiss population. This shows that the Coronavirus outbreak has the potential to undermine persistent (populist) resentments toward science and its epistemology among the general population.


2021 ◽  
pp. 096366252110547
Author(s):  
Joke Kenens ◽  
Michiel Van Oudheusden ◽  
Ine van Hoyweghen ◽  
Nozomi Mizushima

This article explores and discusses understandings of citizen science with members of Japanese citizen radiation measuring organizations who began measuring radioactive contamination in food, soil, air, and human bodies after the 2011 Fukushima nuclear accident. Building on in-depth interviews with organization members and extensive multi-site fieldwork (2018, 2020), the article takes shimin kagaku (citizen science in Japanese) to examine articulations of citizenship and science, while discussing citizen radiation measuring organization activities. Adopting Tsing’s notion of nonscalability, it draws attention to the manifold articulations of citizenship and science, unearthing frictions embedded in Japanese science–society relations. In this way, this article outlines the diversity of notions of citizenship and science, and of citizen participatory practices in science. By bringing nonscalability to bear on an analysis of different articulations of shimin kagaku, this article encourages scientists and public authorities to engage with citizen participatory practices reflexively and responsibly by considering local articulations and knowledges.


2021 ◽  
pp. 096366252110507
Author(s):  
Jean-Baptiste Gouyon

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