Science Communication current issue

Curiouser and Curiouser

Priest, S. — 2009-09-30

Managing Misunderstandings: The Role of Language in Interdisciplinary Scientific Collaboration

Monteiro, M., Keating, E. — 2009-09-30

This article explores how scientists communicate with each other in interdisciplinary collaborative work. It is based on ethnographic research conducted with one such group, which is building a predictive computer model of heat transfer in prostate tissues. The analysis identifies strategies scientists use in their communication practices, including managing different understandings of the validity of knowledge, partial understandings among participants, and interpretive discipline crossing in group meetings. The ideas of productive misunderstandings and of registration as correlating distinct knowledge domains are used to interpret how scientists must manage their unshared backgrounds as part of the collaborative scientific work.

The New Men: Scientists at Work in Popular British Fiction Between the Early 1930s and the Late 1960s

Russell, N. — 2009-09-30

Science communication should include some account of doing science as well as of its product; new scientific knowledge. Fiction and drama are well placed to communicate the process of doing science although, in practice, popular novels on this theme are rare. One exception is the collectivist period in British history from the early 1930s to the late 1960s, when several science-trained authors wrote popular novels about doing science. They gave reasonably sophisticated accounts of the practice, philosophy, sociology and politics of science and their representations of these activities are outlined here. If historical context was a major factor in these novels being written, this may explain why contemporary popular fiction about science is hard to publish. The economic upheavals of 2008 may herald a new era of managed capitalism which might trigger a fresh wave of fictional representations of science.

The Development of Public Perception Research in the Genomics Field: An Empirical Analysis of the Literature in the Field

Pin, R. R., Gutteling, J. M. — 2009-09-30

This article describes a meta-analysis that was conducted on the subjects of published academic research on the public perception of genomics. In total, 451 journal articles were analyzed, all published between 1970 and 2006 and sampled from the databases Web of Science and Scopus. Results indicate the increasing popularity of research on this topic in the last decade, which reflects the same curve as media coverage of the new technology. Many authors study the public perception of genomics, but only a small number are productive. There is a strong focus on food and agriculture genomics and a separate field of authors and journals for medical genomics. The authors make several recommendations for future developments in the public perception of genomics.

Tacit Understandings of Health Literacy: Interview and Survey Research With Health Journalists

Hinnant, A., Len-Rios, M. E. — 2009-09-30

This research offers both qualitative and quantitative data about how health journalists approach health literacy practically and conceptually. Using interviews with 20 writers and editors for magazines and newspapers coupled with a national survey ( N = 396), this analysis uncovers journalistic techniques and tacit theories for making information understandable. The journalists evince a basic understanding of how health literacy can be enhanced through certain story elements (such as nontechnical word use), but they also maintain false ideas about appropriate comprehension aides (such as statistics). Findings show that journalists struggle to maintain scientific credibility while accommodating different audience literacy levels. Journalists’ definitions of health literacy strategically carve out a place for their work as translators.

Can Science Communication Workshops Train Scientists for Reflexive Public Engagement?: The ESConet Experience

Miller, S., Fahy, D., The ESConet Team — 2009-09-30

The European Science Communication Network, between 2005 and 2008, created and delivered original communication training workshops to more than 170 researchers, primarily early-career scientists, to empower them to perform reflexive public engagement activities in various communication situations. The program designed 12 original teaching modules for science communication that not only delivered skills training, including writing for popular audiences and media interview skills, but also developed capacity in, among other areas, risk communication, communicating science in dialogue, and examining controversies within the scientific community. The workshops aimed to encourage scientists to reflect critically on the social, historical, cultural, and ethical dimensions of science.

Book Review: Holliman, R., Whitelegg, E., Scanlon, E., Smidt, S., & Thomas, J. (Eds.). (2009). Investigating science communication in the Information Age: Implications for public engagement and popular media (Vol. 1). Oxford: Oxford University Press. Holliman, R., Whitelegg, E., Scanlon, E., Smidt, S., & Thomas, J. (Eds.). (2009). Practising science communication in the Information Age: Theorising professional practices (Vol. 2). Oxford: Oxford University Press

Mulder, H. A. J., Goedhart, M. J. — 2009-09-30

Book Review: Marchant, J. (2009). Decoding the Heavens. Cambridge, MA: Da Capo Press. 328 pp

Toner, M. — 2009-09-30

Of Note

Valenti, J. M. — 2009-09-30