Science of science communication

Brian TrenchDublin City University

The Science of Science Communication

Colloquium hosted by US National Academies of Science, Washington, May 2012

This colloquium will survey the state of the art of empirical social science research in science communication and will focus on research in psychology, decision science, mass communication, risk communication, health communication, political science, sociology, and related fields on the communication dynamics surrounding issues in science, engineering, technology, and medicine with five distinct goals:

•To improve understanding of relations between the scientific community and the public•To assess the scientific basis for effective communication about science•To strengthen ties among and between communication scientists•To promote greater integration of the disciplines and approaches pertaining to effective communication•To foster an institutional commitment to evidence-based communication science

See programme and archived webcasts at http://www.nasonline.org/programs/sackler-colloquia/upcoming-colloquia/science-communication.html

Science communication

Mass communication / media

CommunicationPsychologyPhilosophy

Ethics

Rhetoric

Sociology

Linguistics

History

Political Economy

Policy Studies

Science communication

Science education

Philosophy and Ethics of science

Health promotion

Risk communication

History of Science

Life sciences

Physical sciencesEnvironmental sciences

Social Studies of Science

Status of science communication

Hybrid status as both interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary (Priest 2010)

Not a full discipline [and this] “allows science communicators to plunder all disciplines and fields of study to conduct their work most effectively” (Gascoigne et al 2010)

Emerging discipline with some recognised criteria of a discipline but still weak in theoretical development and definition of its boundaries (Trench and Bucchi 2010)

Complex root system

Cross-disciplinary migration of champions

Short training courses for professional scientists

Science writing within communication programmes

Writing and presentation modules for science students

Training for science museums, shows, outreach

Science writing postgraduate programmes

Programme content from four fields

Science (usually biology)

Education studies (also museum studies)

Social studies of science (incl. history, philosophy)

Communication theory and skills

Challenges to programmes

Not seen as core business and therefore vulnerable to cutbacks (Netherlands, Italy)

Reduced practical content through relocation to another department (Mexico)

Continuing need to explain or justify science communication and science communication research in a natural sciences setting (UK, Netherlands)

Opportunities for programmes

Improved protection through relocation from a natural sciences to a humanities department (France)

Demand for courses in science communication for other programmes (Spain, UK)

External support from institutions promoting science-in-society initiatives (Spain)

Internal support from unit promoting science-in-society initiatives (France)

“I’m not sure the scientists understand completely what we do and they could have some problems with some of it. We are in a strange balance. They understand that we are useful. It depends on different boundary conditions: we could become a kind of outreach department or a research department, though this is less likely. Mostly, the scientists in our institute have in mind a popularisation model for science communication.”

Nico Pitrelli, SISSA, Italy

“We were very fragile when we depended directly on science departments but our relocation to Humanities seems to protect us. Our Masters is really a professional Masters and the departments in Humanities don’t have many professionally oriented programmes. The literary people welcome us because of the professional dimension to our education.”

Baudouin Jurdant, University of Paris 7

SCI-COMM RESEARCH ARTICLES, 2000-2009(n=1,237)

More than twice as many articles published 2005-2009 as 2000-2004

TOP10 JOURNALS FOR SCI COMM RESEARCH, 2000-2009

Tpp 10 journals accounted for 518 of 1,237 papers (42%)

RESEARCH METHODS IN ARTICLES, 2000-2009

Research Method Total Articles Using This Method

Surveys or Questionnaires 331

Content Analysis 290

Interviews 159

Case Studies 149

Secondary Analysis of Surveys 78

Focus Groups 72

Evaluation Studies 56

SELECTED TOPICS IN SCIENCE COMMUNICATION RESEARCH

18

Science comm PhD theses 2000-2010

• Data gathered for 57 theses • > 50% in UK/Australia/USA• > 50% focused on context of science or

medicine• media/journalism > means of communication

> engagement and dialogue > role of scientists > role of stakeholders > evaluation

• Top 4: media content analysis, survey, interview and case study

• No clear shared research aims• Multiple theories employed• Multiple contributions to practical field

Topics of current PhD projects

theory

education

evaluation

scientist

citizen

media/means

festivals

artmuseum

engagement/cyberscience

interaction visitors/scientists

evaluation theory/science education

television/scientific citizenship

benefits field trip/guest speaker

culture based sc-training climate change Australian newspapers

concept of interactional expertise

cancer prevention high school teachers

ecological art /pus of marine biology

math. info in Portuguese press

corporate

public/museum governance

engagement/dialogue

dialogue/responsiveness science

antibiotic resistance/risk reduction

strategic sc/changing university

authentic museum objects/visitors

pop. science books mathematicsframing / pet fish owners effective strategy/organize

cultural knowledge/western science

strategic sc/climate change

values/sc among prof. science com.

stakeholder/sustainable dev.

sc. theories/deliberative democracy

laboratory access/teachers and pupils

popular culture/’a brief history of time’

informal science / visual interpretation

multimedia/com. / edu. potential

nanotech./civil society

media influence/bone marrow donation

science/public/citizenship

public health program

sc. theories/application in practice

expertise citizenship stakeholder int.

professionalization in SC

stakeholder/sus. bioproducts

learning/school trip

scientist online involvement/journalism

Topics of current PhD projects

theory

education

evaluation

scientist

citizen

media/means

festivals

artmuseum

engagement/cyberscience

interaction visitors/scientists

evaluation theory/science education

television/scientific citizenship

benefits field trip/guest speaker

culture based sc-training climate change Australian newspapers

concept of interactional expertise

cancer prevention high school teachers

ecological art /pus of marine biology

math. info in Portuguese press

corporate

public/museum governance

engagement/dialogue

dialogue/responsiveness science

antibiotic resistance/risk reduction

strategic sc/changing university

authentic museum objects/visitors

pop. science books mathematicsframing / pet fish owners effective strategy/organize

cultural knowledge/western science

strategic sc/climate change

values/sc among prof. science com.

stakeholder/sustainable dev.

sc. theories/deliberative democracy

laboratory access/teachers and pupils

popular culture/’a brief history of time’

informal science / visual interpretation

multimedia/com. / edu. potential

nanotech./civil society

media influence/bone marrow donation

science/public/citizenship

public health program

sc. theories/application in practice

expertise citizenship stakeholder int.

professionalization in SC

stakeholder/sus. bioproducts

learning/school trip

scientist online involvement/journalism

Methods of current PhD projects

• questionnaires/interviews • content analysis– incl. discourse analysis

• participant observation• eye-tracking• case study• participatory design• literature / document analysis

Current PhD research projects (extract)

Name Country University TopicVickie Curtis UK Institute of Educational technology

(Open University)How new developments in communication technologies are influencing public engagement activities in science: citizen cyberscience initiatives.

Diana Kaiser Ireland Schools of Biotechnology and Communication (Dublin City University)

Development and application of evaluation theory for the evaluation of informal science education, science outreach and public engagement with science.

Supara Kamolpattana UK Science Communication Unit, (University of the West of England, Bristol)

Development of culture-based science communication training for science museum explainers

Elaine McKewon Australia School of Journalism (University of Technology, Sydney)

Coverage of climate change in Australian newspapers (1996-2010) with the aim of explaining how the scientific consensus on climate change was reconstructed as a ‘scientific debate’ in the news media.

Eric Kennedy Canada Centre for Knowledge Integration (University of Waterloo)

Investigation of the concept of “interactional expertise” proposed by sociologists Harry Collins and Robert Evans.

Gustav Bohlin Sweden Department of Science and Technology (Linköping University)

Antibiotic resistance and how different features of this problem, such as causes and risk-reduction measures, are communicated to and with the Swedish public.

Nick Verouden Netherlands Department of Science Education and Communication (Delft University of Technology)

This project explores the coupling of science communication to strategic university organizational goals and objectives by investigating how professionals deal with these issues on a day-to-day basis.

ConstanzeHampp Germany TUM School of Education, Science Communication (TU Munich)

Seek to verify the claimed impact of authentic museum objects (originals) on museum visitors, testing the assumption that originals attract higher attention than reproductions

Susana Pereira Portugal Faculty of Sciences (University of Porto)

Mathematical information in the Portuguese press

Base communication models

Dominant models in

PCST

Variants on dominant

PCST models

Science’s orientation to public

Dissemination Deficit

Defence

Marketing

They are hostile

They are ignorant

They can be persuaded

Base comm

models

Dominant models in

PCST

Variants on

dominant PCST

models

Science’s orientation to public

Dissemination

Deficit

Defence

Marketing

They are hostile

They are ignorant

They can be persuaded

Dialogue

Dialogue

Context

Consultation

Engagement

We see their diverse needs

We find out their views

They talk back

They take on the issue

Base comm

models

Dominant models in

PCST

Variants on

dominant PCST

models

Science’s orientation to public

Dissemination Deficit

Defence

Marketing

They are hostileThey are ignorant

They can be persuaded

Dialogue

Dialogue

ContextConsultatio

n

Engagement

We see their diverse needs We find out their views

They talk backThey take on the issue

Conversation Participati

on

Deliberation

Critique

They and we shape the issue

They and we set the agenda

They and we negotiate meanings

4 stages of scientific development

• Stage 1: new objects and phenomena– scientists are pioneers, not afraid to make mistakes, have difficulties

with peer review, do not always possess excellent technical skills • Stage 2: develop methods and techniques

– scientists validate techniques, develop a specific language, are ingenious and inventive, able to implement ideas

• Stage 3: production of specific knowledge: highest number of original publications– Scientists are resistant to first-stage propositions

• Stage 4: maintain and pass on scientific knowledge generated in phase 1 to 3 crucial revisions of the domain– scientists write reviews and textbooks presenting overview of the

discipline(Shneider, Trends in Biochemical Sciences, 2009)

How much do practitioners care?

Survey of those attending BAAS Science Communication conference 2007 (N=124)

(87% science graduates; 54% professional science communicators; 69% female; 73% <40-y-o)

•42% read PUS and 36% SC occasionally•55% never read PUS or SC

• Miller, in Cheng et al, Science Communication in Social Contexts (2008)

Uses of scientific research

• To classify objects• To explain observed behaviour– causation; correlation; models

• To clarify concepts• To aid prediction– If this, then that …

• To aid planning, strategy