Science communication
Encyclopedia
Science communication generally refers to public media aiming to talk about science with non-scientists. This often involves professional scientists (called 'outreach' or 'popularization') but has evolved into a professional field
in its own right. It includes science exhibitions, science journalism, science policy and science media production, among other things.
Science communication can be important, not just to maintain a demand for ongoing science, but because some information is directly applicable. Science can also inform political and ethical thinking. There is an increasing emphasis on teaching the methods, and not just the authoritative findings of science. These issues may be especially critical in the face of scientific misinformation, and how much easier it is to spread (because it is not subject to the many constraints of accurate science information).
Communicators can use all the same methods of entertainment and persuasion as in other professions, including humor, story telling, and metaphors. Scientists are sometimes even trained in some of the techniques used by actors.
Science communication can also simply describe communication between scientists (e.g. through scientific journals) as well as between non-scientists.
(PUS) and Science Communication. Researchers in this field are often closely linked to Science and Technology Studies
, but they may also come from the history of science as well as mainstream media studies, psychology, sociology or literature studies.Agricultural communication
is considered a subset of science communication from an academic and professional standpoint.
Writing in 1987, Geoffery Thomas and John Durant advocate various reasons to increase the public's understanding of science, or scientific literacy. First of all, this could benefit the faculty of science in general; if the public enjoyed science more, there would presumably be more funding, progressive regulation, and trained scientists. More trained engineers and scientists could allow a nation to be more competitive economically.
Science can also provide benefits to the individual. A case in point, science can simply have aesthetic appeal (e.g. popular science
or science fiction
). Living in an increasingly technological society, background scientific knowledge can help to negotiate it. The science of happiness
is an example of a field whose research can have direct and obvious implications for individuals.
The government and society might also benefit from more scientific literacy - since an informed electorate promotes a more effective democratic society. Moreover, facts uncovered by science are often relevant to moral decision making (e.g. answering questions about whether animals can feel pain
, or even a science of morality
).
I. Bernard Cohen
points out potential pitfalls in improving scientific literacy. He explains first that we must avoid 'scientific idolotry'. In other words, science education must allow the public to respect science without worshiping it, or expecting infallibility. Ultimately the scientists are humans, and neither perfectly altruistic, nor competent. Scientific communicators must also appreciate the distinction between understanding science, and possessing a transferable skill of scientific thinking. Indeed, even trained scientists do not always manage to transfer the skill to other areas of their life.
Cohen is critical of what has been called 'Scientism
' – the claim that science is the best or only way to solve all problems. He also criticizes the teaching of 'miscellaneous information' and doubts that much of will ever be of any use, (e.g. the distance in light years from the earth to various stars, or the names of minerals). Much of scientific knowledge, particularly if it is not the subject public debate and policy revision, may never really translate to practical changes for the lives of the learners.
Most of the key criticisms of PUS come from 1990s work from scholars in Science and Technology Studies
. For example Steven Hilgartner (1990) argues that what he calls 'the dominant view' of science popularization tends to imply a tight boundary around those who can articulate true, reliable knowledge. By defining a deficient public as recipients of knowledge, the scientists get to contrast their own identity as experts. The process of popularisation is a form of boundary work. Understood in this way, science communication may explicitly exist to connect scientists with the rest of society, but its very existence only acts to emphasise it: as if the scientific community only invited the public to play in order to reinforce its most powerful boundary (according to work by Massimiano Bucchi
or Brian Wynne
).
Biologist, Randy Olson, adds that anti-science groups can often be so motivated, and so well funded, that the impartiality of science organizations in politics can lead to crises of public understanding of science. He cites examples of denialism
(e.g. of global warming
) to support this worry.. Journalist, Robert Krulwich, likewise argues that the stories scientists tell are invariably competing with the efforts of people like Adnan Oktar
. Krulwich explains that attractive, easy to read, and cheap creationist textbooks were sold by the thousands to schools in Turkey (despite their strong secular tradition) due to the efforts of Oktar.
published "Don't Be Such a Scientist: Talking Substance in an Age of Style". In the book he describes how there has been this unproductive negligence when it comes to teaching scientists to communicate. Don't be Such a Scientist is written to his fellow scientists, and he says they need to "lighten up". He adds that scientists are ultimately the most responsible for promoting and explaining science to the public and media. This, Olson says, should be done according to a good grasp of social science; scientists must use persuasive and effective means like story telling. Olson acknowledges that the stories told by scientists need not only be compelling, but also accurate to modern science - and says this added challenge must simply be confronted. He points to figures like Carl Sagan
as effective popularizers, partly because such figures actively cultivate a likeable image..
As his commencement address to Caltech students, journalist Robert Krulwich
delivered a speech entitled "Tell Me a Story". Krulwich says that scientists are actually given many opportunities to explain something interesting about science or their work, and that they must seize such opportunities. He says scientists must resist shunning the public, as Sir Isaac Newton did in his writing, and instead embrace metaphors the way Galileo did; Krulwich suggests that metaphors only become more important as the science gets more difficult to understand. He adds that telling stories of science in practice, of scientists' success stories and struggles, helps convey that scientists are real people. Finally, Krulwich advocates for the importance of scientific values in general, and helping the public to understand that scientific views are not mere opinions - but hard won knowledge.
Actor Alan Alda
helps scientists and PhD students get more comfortable with communication with the help of drama
coaches (they use the acting techniques of Viola Spolin
).
put it in a special issue on publics:
However, Einsiedel goes on to suggest both views of the public are ‘monolithic’ in their own way; they both choose to declare what something called the public is. PUS might have ridiculed publics for their ignorance, but an alternative "Public Engagement with Science and Technology" (PEST) romanticises its publics for their participatory instincts, intrinsic morality or simple collective wisdom. As Susana Hornig Priest (2009) concludes in her recent introduction essay on science’s contemporary audiences, the job of science communication might be to help non-scientists feel they are not excluded as opposed to always included; that they can join in if they want, rather than that there is a necessity to spend their lives engaging.
The process of quantifiably surveying public opinion of science is now largely associated with the PUS movement (some would say unfairly). In the US, Jon Miller is the name most associated with such work and well known for differentiating between identifiable ‘attentive’ or ‘interested’ publics (i.e. science’s fans) and those who do not care much about science and technology. Miller’s work questioned whether American publics had the following four attributes of scientific literacy:
In some respects, John Durant’s work surveying British publics applied similar ideas to Miller. However, they were slightly more concerned with attitudes to science and technology, rather than just how much knowledge people had. They also looked at public confidence in their knowledge, considering issues such as the gender of those ticking don’t know boxes. We can see aspects of this approach, as well as a more ‘PEST’ influenced one, reflected within the Eurobarometer
studies of public opinion. These have been running since 1973 to monitor public opinion in the member states, with the aim of helping the preparation of policy (and evaluation of policy). They look at a host of topics, not just science and technology but also defence, the Euro, EU enlargement and culture. Eurobarometer’s recent study of Europeans’ Attitudes to Climate Change is a good example. It focuses on respondents’ ‘subjective level of information’; asking ‘personally, do you think that you are well informed or not about…? rather than checking what people knew.
Popular science
Popular science, sometimes called literature of science, is interpretation of science intended for a general audience. While science journalism focuses on recent scientific developments, popular science is broad-ranging, often written by scientists as well as journalists, and is presented in many...
in its own right. It includes science exhibitions, science journalism, science policy and science media production, among other things.
Science communication can be important, not just to maintain a demand for ongoing science, but because some information is directly applicable. Science can also inform political and ethical thinking. There is an increasing emphasis on teaching the methods, and not just the authoritative findings of science. These issues may be especially critical in the face of scientific misinformation, and how much easier it is to spread (because it is not subject to the many constraints of accurate science information).
Communicators can use all the same methods of entertainment and persuasion as in other professions, including humor, story telling, and metaphors. Scientists are sometimes even trained in some of the techniques used by actors.
Science communication can also simply describe communication between scientists (e.g. through scientific journals) as well as between non-scientists.
Motivations
Partly due to a market for professional training, science communication is also an academic discipline. The two key journals are the Public Understanding of SciencePublic Understanding of Science (journal)
Public Understanding of Science is a bimonthly peer-reviewed academic journal that was established in 1992 and is published by SAGE Publications. It covers topics in the popular perception of science, the role of science in society, philosophy of science, science education, and science in public...
(PUS) and Science Communication. Researchers in this field are often closely linked to Science and Technology Studies
Science and technology studies
Science, technology and society is the study of how social, political, and cultural values affect scientific research and technological innovation, and how these, in turn, affect society, politics and culture...
, but they may also come from the history of science as well as mainstream media studies, psychology, sociology or literature studies.Agricultural communication
Agricultural communication
Agricultural communication is a field of study and work that focuses on communication about agricultural related information among agricultural stakeholders and between agricultural and non-agricultural stakeholders. It is done formally and informally by agricultural extension and is considered a...
is considered a subset of science communication from an academic and professional standpoint.
Writing in 1987, Geoffery Thomas and John Durant advocate various reasons to increase the public's understanding of science, or scientific literacy. First of all, this could benefit the faculty of science in general; if the public enjoyed science more, there would presumably be more funding, progressive regulation, and trained scientists. More trained engineers and scientists could allow a nation to be more competitive economically.
Science can also provide benefits to the individual. A case in point, science can simply have aesthetic appeal (e.g. popular science
Popular science
Popular science, sometimes called literature of science, is interpretation of science intended for a general audience. While science journalism focuses on recent scientific developments, popular science is broad-ranging, often written by scientists as well as journalists, and is presented in many...
or science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
). Living in an increasingly technological society, background scientific knowledge can help to negotiate it. The science of happiness
Positive psychology
Positive psychology is a recent branch of psychology whose purpose was summed up in 1998 by Martin Seligman and Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi: "We believe that a psychology of positive human functioning will arise, which achieves a scientific understanding and effective interventions to build thriving in...
is an example of a field whose research can have direct and obvious implications for individuals.
The government and society might also benefit from more scientific literacy - since an informed electorate promotes a more effective democratic society. Moreover, facts uncovered by science are often relevant to moral decision making (e.g. answering questions about whether animals can feel pain
Pain in animals
Pain is a sensory and emotional experience often caused by intense or damaging stimuli. The International Association for the Study of Pain says pain is a conscious experience involving unpleasantness, i.e. suffering...
, or even a science of morality
Science of morality
Science of morality can refer to a number of ethically naturalistic views. Historically, the term was introduced by Jeremy Bentham . In meta-ethics, ethical naturalism bases morality on rational and empirical consideration of the natural world...
).
I. Bernard Cohen
I. Bernard Cohen
I. Bernard Cohen was the Victor S. Thomas Professor of the history of science at Harvard University and the author of many books on the history of science and, in particular, Isaac Newton....
points out potential pitfalls in improving scientific literacy. He explains first that we must avoid 'scientific idolotry'. In other words, science education must allow the public to respect science without worshiping it, or expecting infallibility. Ultimately the scientists are humans, and neither perfectly altruistic, nor competent. Scientific communicators must also appreciate the distinction between understanding science, and possessing a transferable skill of scientific thinking. Indeed, even trained scientists do not always manage to transfer the skill to other areas of their life.
Scientism
Scientism refers to a belief in the universal applicability of the systematic methods and approach of science, especially the view that empirical science constitutes the most authoritative worldview or most valuable part of human learning to the exclusion of other viewpoints...
' – the claim that science is the best or only way to solve all problems. He also criticizes the teaching of 'miscellaneous information' and doubts that much of will ever be of any use, (e.g. the distance in light years from the earth to various stars, or the names of minerals). Much of scientific knowledge, particularly if it is not the subject public debate and policy revision, may never really translate to practical changes for the lives of the learners.
Most of the key criticisms of PUS come from 1990s work from scholars in Science and Technology Studies
Science and technology studies
Science, technology and society is the study of how social, political, and cultural values affect scientific research and technological innovation, and how these, in turn, affect society, politics and culture...
. For example Steven Hilgartner (1990) argues that what he calls 'the dominant view' of science popularization tends to imply a tight boundary around those who can articulate true, reliable knowledge. By defining a deficient public as recipients of knowledge, the scientists get to contrast their own identity as experts. The process of popularisation is a form of boundary work. Understood in this way, science communication may explicitly exist to connect scientists with the rest of society, but its very existence only acts to emphasise it: as if the scientific community only invited the public to play in order to reinforce its most powerful boundary (according to work by Massimiano Bucchi
Massimiano bucchi
Massimiano Bucchi is an Italian sociologist and a scholar of the relationships among science, technology and society.-Biography:...
or Brian Wynne
Brian Wynne
Brian Wynne is Professor of Science Studies and Research Director of the Centre for the Study of Environmental Change at the University of Lancaster. His education includes MA , PhD , MPhil...
).
Biologist, Randy Olson, adds that anti-science groups can often be so motivated, and so well funded, that the impartiality of science organizations in politics can lead to crises of public understanding of science. He cites examples of denialism
Denialism
Denialism is choosing to deny reality as a way to avoid an uncomfortable truth: "[it] is the refusal to accept an empirically verifiable reality...
(e.g. of global warming
Global warming
Global warming refers to the rising average temperature of Earth's atmosphere and oceans and its projected continuation. In the last 100 years, Earth's average surface temperature increased by about with about two thirds of the increase occurring over just the last three decades...
) to support this worry.. Journalist, Robert Krulwich, likewise argues that the stories scientists tell are invariably competing with the efforts of people like Adnan Oktar
Adnan Oktar
Adnan Oktar , also known as Harun Yahya, is an author and Islamic creationist. In 2007, he sent thousands of unsolicited copies of the Atlas of Creation advocating Islamic creationism to American scientists, members of Congress, and science museums...
. Krulwich explains that attractive, easy to read, and cheap creationist textbooks were sold by the thousands to schools in Turkey (despite their strong secular tradition) due to the efforts of Oktar.
Methods
Marine biologist and filmmaker Randy OlsonRandy Olson
Randy Olson is a scientist-turned-filmmaker who earned his Ph.D. in Biology from Harvard University and became a tenured professor of marine biology at the University of New Hampshire before changing careers by moving to Hollywood and entering film school at the University of Southern California...
published "Don't Be Such a Scientist: Talking Substance in an Age of Style". In the book he describes how there has been this unproductive negligence when it comes to teaching scientists to communicate. Don't be Such a Scientist is written to his fellow scientists, and he says they need to "lighten up". He adds that scientists are ultimately the most responsible for promoting and explaining science to the public and media. This, Olson says, should be done according to a good grasp of social science; scientists must use persuasive and effective means like story telling. Olson acknowledges that the stories told by scientists need not only be compelling, but also accurate to modern science - and says this added challenge must simply be confronted. He points to figures like Carl Sagan
Carl Sagan
Carl Edward Sagan was an American astronomer, astrophysicist, cosmologist, author, science popularizer and science communicator in astronomy and natural sciences. He published more than 600 scientific papers and articles and was author, co-author or editor of more than 20 books...
as effective popularizers, partly because such figures actively cultivate a likeable image..
As his commencement address to Caltech students, journalist Robert Krulwich
Robert Krulwich
Robert Krulwich is an American radio and television journalist whose specialty is explaining complex topics in depth. He has worked as a full-time employee of ABC, CBS, National Public Radio, and Pacifica. He has done assignment pieces for ABC's Nightline and World News Tonight, as well as PBS's...
delivered a speech entitled "Tell Me a Story". Krulwich says that scientists are actually given many opportunities to explain something interesting about science or their work, and that they must seize such opportunities. He says scientists must resist shunning the public, as Sir Isaac Newton did in his writing, and instead embrace metaphors the way Galileo did; Krulwich suggests that metaphors only become more important as the science gets more difficult to understand. He adds that telling stories of science in practice, of scientists' success stories and struggles, helps convey that scientists are real people. Finally, Krulwich advocates for the importance of scientific values in general, and helping the public to understand that scientific views are not mere opinions - but hard won knowledge.
Actor Alan Alda
Alan Alda
Alphonso Joseph D'Abruzzo , better known as Alan Alda, is an American actor, director, screenwriter, and author. A six-time Emmy Award and Golden Globe Award winner, he is best known for his role as Hawkeye Pierce in the TV series M*A*S*H...
helps scientists and PhD students get more comfortable with communication with the help of drama
Drama
Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance. The term comes from a Greek word meaning "action" , which is derived from "to do","to act" . The enactment of drama in theatre, performed by actors on a stage before an audience, presupposes collaborative modes of production and a...
coaches (they use the acting techniques of Viola Spolin
Viola Spolin
Viola Spolin was an important innovator of the American theater in the 20th century. She created directorial techniques to help actors to be focused in the present moment and to find choices improvisationally, as if in real life...
).
Imagining Science’s Public(s)
Many criticisms of the PUS movement have emphasised that this thing they were calling the public was somewhat of a (unhelpful) black box. Approaches to the public changed with the move away from PUS. Science communication researchers and practitioners now often showcase their desire to listen to non-scientists as well as acknowledging an awareness of the fluid and complex nature of (post/late) modern social identities. At the very least, people will use plurals: publics or audiences. As the editor of Public Understanding of SciencePublic Understanding of Science (journal)
Public Understanding of Science is a bimonthly peer-reviewed academic journal that was established in 1992 and is published by SAGE Publications. It covers topics in the popular perception of science, the role of science in society, philosophy of science, science education, and science in public...
put it in a special issue on publics:
We have clearly moved from the old days of the deficit frame and thinking of publics as monolithic to viewing publics as active, knowledgeable, playing multiple roles, receiving as well as shaping science. (Einsiedel, 2007: 5)
However, Einsiedel goes on to suggest both views of the public are ‘monolithic’ in their own way; they both choose to declare what something called the public is. PUS might have ridiculed publics for their ignorance, but an alternative "Public Engagement with Science and Technology" (PEST) romanticises its publics for their participatory instincts, intrinsic morality or simple collective wisdom. As Susana Hornig Priest (2009) concludes in her recent introduction essay on science’s contemporary audiences, the job of science communication might be to help non-scientists feel they are not excluded as opposed to always included; that they can join in if they want, rather than that there is a necessity to spend their lives engaging.
The process of quantifiably surveying public opinion of science is now largely associated with the PUS movement (some would say unfairly). In the US, Jon Miller is the name most associated with such work and well known for differentiating between identifiable ‘attentive’ or ‘interested’ publics (i.e. science’s fans) and those who do not care much about science and technology. Miller’s work questioned whether American publics had the following four attributes of scientific literacy:
- Knowledge of basic textbook scientific factual knowledge.
- An understanding of scientific method.
- Appreciated the positive outcomes of science and technology
- Rejected superstitious beliefs such as astrology or numerology.
In some respects, John Durant’s work surveying British publics applied similar ideas to Miller. However, they were slightly more concerned with attitudes to science and technology, rather than just how much knowledge people had. They also looked at public confidence in their knowledge, considering issues such as the gender of those ticking don’t know boxes. We can see aspects of this approach, as well as a more ‘PEST’ influenced one, reflected within the Eurobarometer
Eurobarometer
Eurobarometer is a series of surveys regularly performed on behalf of the European Commission since 1973. It produces reports of public opinion of certain issues relating to the European Union across the member states...
studies of public opinion. These have been running since 1973 to monitor public opinion in the member states, with the aim of helping the preparation of policy (and evaluation of policy). They look at a host of topics, not just science and technology but also defence, the Euro, EU enlargement and culture. Eurobarometer’s recent study of Europeans’ Attitudes to Climate Change is a good example. It focuses on respondents’ ‘subjective level of information’; asking ‘personally, do you think that you are well informed or not about…? rather than checking what people knew.
Further reading
- Bauer, M & Bucchi, MMassimiano bucchiMassimiano Bucchi is an Italian sociologist and a scholar of the relationships among science, technology and society.-Biography:...
(eds) (2007) Journalism, Science and Society (London & New York: Routledge). - Bucchi, MMassimiano bucchiMassimiano Bucchi is an Italian sociologist and a scholar of the relationships among science, technology and society.-Biography:...
& Trench, B (eds) (2008) Handbook of Public Communication of Science and Technology (London & New York: Routledge). - Gregory, J & Miller, S (1998) Science in Public: communication, culture and credibility (New York: Plenum).
- Holliman, R et al. (eds) (2009) Investigating Science Communication in the Information Age: Implications for Public Engagement and popular media (Oxford: Oxford University Press).
- Nelkin, D (1995) Selling Science: How the Press Covers Science & Technology, 2nd edition (New York: WH Freeman)..
External links
- Indian Science Communication Society
- British Science Association
- Current discussions on Science Communication