Communicating science in social settings

This essay examines the societal dynamics surrounding modern science. It first discusses a number of challenges facing any effort to communicate science in social environments: lay publics with varying levels of preparedness for fully understanding new scientific breakthroughs; the deterioration of...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS 2013-08, Vol.110 (Supplement 3), p.14040-14047
Main Author: Scheufele, Dietram A.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Audiences
Butterflies
Communication
Emerging technology
ethics
Humans
Information Dissemination - methods
infrastructure
Journalism
Mass media
Nanotechnology
News content
Political attitudes
Political debate
Public Opinion
Science - methods
Social Environment
Social research
Social Sciences
Society
technology
Television programs
The Science of Science Communication Sackler
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Summary:This essay examines the societal dynamics surrounding modern science. It first discusses a number of challenges facing any effort to communicate science in social environments: lay publics with varying levels of preparedness for fully understanding new scientific breakthroughs; the deterioration of traditional media infrastructures; and an increasingly complex set of emerging technologies that are surrounded by a host of ethical, legal, and social considerations. Based on this overview, I discuss four areas in which empirical social science helps clarify intuitive but sometimes faulty assumptions about the social-level mechanisms of science communication and outline an agenda for bench and social scientists—driven by current social-scientific research in the field of science communication—to guide more effective communication efforts at the societal level in the future.
ISSN:0027-8424
1091-6490
DOI:10.1073/pnas.1213275110