Research Roadmap Findings
In its review of the science communications research literature and
its discussions with practitioners, journalists, and researchers over
the course of a three-year study, the R2 panel concluded:
• There is no such thing as a “general audience.”
Important but distinct audiences include the science-attentive public,
policymakers, the press (general and trade), and third-party validators,
including research communities. Communication programs should be designed
to address and serve the needs of each group; there is no “one-size-fits-all”
message or method of communication.
• Public understanding of science is not the same as appreciation
of science or of research- performing institutions. Often, public
understanding of science is touted as the goal of a communications
program really designed to enhance the reputation of a particular
research institution. The goals—public understanding or public
appreciation of science or of a particular institution—should
be explicit at the outset of any science communications program and
metrics for measuring the desired outcome should be designed appropriately.
• Science and technology communication programs should address
an audience’s needs and interests, not by the research enterprise’s
ideas about what the public “should know.”
• Active involvement by scientists and engineers is critical
to the success of any science communication program. Scientists have
an obligation to interact with publics outside their peer community,
and should be fully integrated into decision making regarding science
communication issues.
• In order to best foster mutual respect and trust between scientists
and external publics—essential to effective communication—public
affairs representatives need unfettered access and, preferably, a
direct reporting relationship, with the head of the agency or institution
they represent.
• The changing nature of the media—the proliferation of
new media and fragmentation of existing media—will continue
to change how and to whom science is communicated.
- Return to NASW homepage.
- Return
to NASW Members' Lobby.
- Return
to ScienceWriters Newsletter homepag
-
|
