Communicating Science Effectively A Research Agenda (2017) / Chapter Skim
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5 Building the Knowledge Base for Effective Science Communication
5 Building the Knowledge Base for Effective Science Communication
Pages 81-100
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From page 81... ...
This chapter summarizes the major challenges for science communication and needs for research identified throughout the report, with the aim of providing a potential research agenda for both funders and scientists. A widespread assumption in both the scientific and science communication communities is that communicating science well will affect public understanding of and attitudes about societal issues.
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From page 82... ...
The first section of this chapter describes general conceptual and methodological issues that need attention if an evidence base for communicating science is to be built. This report could not be, and is not, a comprehensive review of the scholarship on science communication.
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From page 83... ...
GENERAL CONCEPTUAL AND METHODOLOGICAL ISSUES General conceptual and methodological issues that need to be investigated to build the research base on the science of science communication include developing methods for aligning goals with the right communication approach; using a systems approach to guide research on science communication; assessing the effectiveness of science communication; and conducting comparisons across diverse national, international, and cultural contexts. Aligning Goals with the Right Communication Approach As described in Chapter 1, people communicate science for diverse reasons.
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From page 84... ...
Using a Systems Approach to Guide Research on Science Communication Science communication occurs within a complex system whose elements include the content to be communicated, the format in which it is communicated, the diverse organizations and individuals who are also communicating science, the various audiences, the channels of communication, the political and societal realities within which the communication takes place, and the many other sources from which audiences may find additional and perhaps conflicting or inaccurate scientific information. Each of these elements itself is complex, and each interacts with the others in complex and largely unknown ways.
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From page 85... ...
. The building and testing of such models can serve as the basis for research using field experiments to test approaches to communicating science in complex communication environments.
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From page 86... ...
Examples of major questions a systems approach could be used to answer include the following: • How do the various elements involved in communicating science at the individual, group, community, and societal levels interact to affect how people understand, perceive, and use science? • How do different types of audiences respond to various attempts to communicate science amid science-related controversy depending on the nature of the controversy; the type of decision to be made; the state of the relevant science (e.g., whether emerging or well developed)
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From page 87... ...
This knowledge should yield general, evidence-based principles for how to communicate science effectively and how to adapt science communication to particular audiences and contexts to achieve specific goals. Research focused in the following ways would be especially informative: • Both one-time and longitudinal cross-sectional surveys using rep resentative samples can provide information about people's under standing, perception, and use of science that can be generalized to the larger population, as well as an understanding of how those measures change over time.
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From page 88... ...
At the same time, however, it bears noting that these kinds of cross-context studies are among those that pose particular challenges for experimental research designs. MAJOR CHALLENGES FOR PRACTICE AND RESEARCH IN SCIENCE COMMUNICATION Major challenges for practice and research in science communication include understanding the converging influences on science communication; engaging formally with the public about science; understanding the special complexities of communicating science in the face of public controversy; and communicating science in a complex, dynamic, and competitive com
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From page 89... ...
Research to date has pointed to a number of factors that make it challenging to communicate science effectively to diverse audiences regardless of whether the science relates to a public controversy: • Some challenges stem from the complex nature of scientific infor mation, such as the uncertainties inherent to science, and the ways in which people process such information. People, for example, often are unsettled by the ambiguity of science, and tend to have difficulty understanding scientific uncertainty and probability.
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From page 90... ...
Think tanks, scientific associations, evidence-based clearinghouses, government agencies, industry groups, and nonprofit organizations all play an organized role in aggregating, translating, and interpreting such information for use by policy makers, the media, and the broader public. Research is needed on the conditions for success in the efforts of diverse types of organizations to communicate science.
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From page 91... ...
Which approaches to communicating science related to contentious issues are effective, and which are not? • The organizations and individuals that communicate science re lated to controversy are diverse, and they have various reasons for communicating.
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From page 92... ...
the voices of organized interests and influential individuals are amplified in public discourse and impede making the state of the scientific evidence clearly known. Each of these features is discussed in turn below, and major questions that need to be addressed by research to develop effective approaches to communicating science are identified.
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From page 93... ...
Much of this research, however, has focused on environmental assessment and decision making. What are the elements of effective structures and processes for communicating science effectively in public forums across a range of social issues (e.g., biomedical research, health policy, gene editing, education policy)
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From page 94... ...
Communicating Science in a Complex, Dynamic, and Competitive Communication Media Environment As described in Chapter 4, science communication takes place today in a complex and rapidly changing media environment. More than ever, many voices are competing for the attention of various audiences on all topics, including science.
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From page 95... ...
• How can science communicators reach audiences that face barriers to accessing and using scientific information, such as those with lower levels of education and income? • Much of the scientific information Americans receive through me dia still originates from traditional journalism.
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From page 96... ...
More research is needed to determine effective approaches for communi cating science on social media platforms and through blogs. • Social networks are the web of connections and relationships that people have with others -- connections that vary in strength and that provide a means for social influence.
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• How important to effective science communication is people's un derstanding of the nature and processes of science? Does under standing the nature of science actually translate into the use of scientific information in decision making or other aspects of life?
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From page 98... ...
For example, researchers and practicing science communicators need opportunities for the regular exchange and synthesis of information and ideas so as to keep the research agenda current and useful. The varied disciplines that study science communication and science-related controversies need opportunities and mechanisms for working together to develop more unified theories, concepts, and definitions of the factors that matter to communicating science and their influences.
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From page 99... ...
Ideally, this research agenda would be pursued by researchers working with different types of boundary organizations, issue networks, agencies, media organizations, and other entities that communicate science. One of the challenges of conducting research on science communication is the long delays between proposing projects and their being funded.
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From page 100... ...
This agenda will be implemented only if the institutions that communicate science and public and private funders of research become committed to strengthening the science of science communication and working toward evidence-based practices. It is the committee's hope that this report will stimulate that commitment.
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