Perceptions of accuracy in science writing

Technical experts and writers often disagree about what constitutes accuracy in popular writings about science and technology, such as news media reports. In previous attempts to quantify accuracy in science news reporting, many of the sources' comments pointed to objective errors, but a sizabl...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:IEEE transactions on professional communication 2002-09, Vol.45 (3), p.153-156
Main Authors: CARSTEN, Laura D, ILLMAN, Deborah L
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Accuracy
Errors & omissions
Exact sciences and technology
Information and communication sciences
Information publishing, dissemination and reproduction
Information science. Documentation
Media coverage
Sciences and techniques of general use
Scientific and technical writing
Technical communication
Writing
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Description
Summary:Technical experts and writers often disagree about what constitutes accuracy in popular writings about science and technology, such as news media reports. In previous attempts to quantify accuracy in science news reporting, many of the sources' comments pointed to objective errors, but a sizable number dealt with lack of completeness or stylistic issues. There has been no consensus among communication researchers on the kind of scheme that should be used to code such information. A scheme for categorizing empirical information about the different kinds of perceived errors that technical sources identify in articles about their work by journalists and other writers. This study may lead to strategies for enhancing the accuracy of popular writings about science and technology.
ISSN:0361-1434
1558-1500
DOI:10.1109/TPC.2002.1029955