ArticlePDF Available

The Public Understanding of Science

Authors:
John R. Durant
John R. Durant
John R. Durant
  • This person is not on ResearchGate, or hasn't claimed this research yet.
Geoffrey Evans at University of Oxford
Geoffrey Evans
Geoffrey P. Thomas
Geoffrey P. Thomas
Geoffrey P. Thomas
  • This person is not on ResearchGate, or hasn't claimed this research yet.
Download full-text PDF
Read full-text
Download citation

Abstract

Both in Britain and the United States the public says it is more interested in science than (for example) sport. Public knowledge of science gives less cause for gratification.
Content uploaded by Geoffrey Evans
Author content
All content in this area was uploaded by Geoffrey Evans on Oct 17, 2017
Content may be subject to copyright.
© 1989Nature Publishing Group
© 1989Nature Publishing Group
© 1989Nature Publishing Group
© 1989Nature Publishing Group
... However, as already mentioned, surveys have also been conducted to assess the PUS and their attitudes toward science under the traditional PUS model. Durant et al. developed a questionnaire to assess "public understanding of science and science-based technologies that comprised 23 quizzes on basic scientific knowledge [Durant et al., 1989]. ...
Who trusts in scientific research? Cross-national surveys of Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States
Article
Full-text available
  • Nov 2024
In this study, we explored science understanding and attitudes in Japan compared to the United Kingdom (UK) and the United States (US), examining trust in science versus humanities. Our web-based survey revealed that Japan's research literacy matches its Western counterparts. However, there were notable differences in scientific knowledge depth and public trust in research. Interestingly, higher scientific knowledge correlated with increased trust in research outcomes, a trend not seen in the humanities. In Japan, political ideologies did not significantly influence trust in science or humanities and showed little correlation with scientific knowledge or research literacy. This contrasts with the UK and the US, where political ideology impacts public trust in these fields.
View
... En la misma línea, esta investigación buscó explorar la relación simbólica que perciben los doctorantes participantes del concurso "Tu tesis doctoral en un hilo de tuits: #HiloTesis" respecto a la comunicación pública de la ciencia. Podemos encontrar muchas reflexiones teóricas sobre el rol que cumple la comunicación pública de la ciencia en la sociedad, argumentando el impacto directo que ha tenido la ciencia en la sociedad y la necesidad del público de saber al respecto de ella (Durant et al., 1989). No obstante, en términos empíricos, la significatividad de la comunicación pública de la ciencia recae en dos grandes dimensiones: la primera, desde una perspectiva social en donde la ciencia juega un papel importante en el desarrollo de una cultura científica; y la segunda, desde una perspectiva académica, en donde la divulgación científica es vista como una herramienta para tender lazos académicos. ...
Prácticas de comunicación pública de la ciencia de doctorantes en plataformas sociodigitales. El caso “Tu tesis doctoral en un hilo de Twitter: #HiloTesis”
Thesis
  • Sep 2024
En la actualidad, es innegable el papel central que se le ha otorgado a la ciencia en la sociedad. Una práctica popular que busca establecer puentes entre este conocimiento y el público lego es la comunicación pública de la ciencia. Esta práctica se ha establecido en años recientes como un campo académico en desarrollo por lo que por parte de investigadores y académicos ha habido mucho interés en los distintos tipos de prácticas relacionadas, los espacios en donde se dan, así como los ejercicios que buscan promover el desarrollo de habilidades comunicativas. En esta tesis el foco analítico está en la observación de prácticas de comunicación pública de la ciencia en plataformas sociodigitales (específicamente en Twitter) realizadas por doctorandos y recién doctores en el marco del concurso “Tu tesis doctoral en un hilo de Twitter: #HiloTesis” llevado a cabo en los años 2021, 2022 y 2023. Para el análisis de dichas prácticas hago uso de la teoría de la estructuración de Anthony Giddens con el propósito de ponderar cuestiones relacionadas a la agencia y la estructura y cómo estas dimensiones configuran dichas prácticas de comunicación pública de la ciencia. En los resultados y conclusiones del documento se exploran diferentes aspectos, tanto agenciales como estructurales, de las prácticas de comunicación pública de la ciencia. En la parte de la agencia, se describen dichas prácticas y se explora la significatividad para los entrevistados; además, se destacan aspectos como la motivación y consecuencias que configuran a estas prácticas comunicativas. Finalmente, en la parte de la estructura, se exploran dos condiciones estructurales que tienen un impacto en la forma en que se llevan a cabo las prácticas de comunicación pública de la ciencia: la plataforma y los procesos de algoritmización, y las instituciones educativas.
View
... Внимание на снижение интереса молодежи к научной карьере ученые обра тили еще в1980х годах [Smithers, Robinson, 1988;Durant, Evans, Thomas, 1989;Jenkins, 1994]. Первыми об этой проблеме в 1975 г. написали М. Б. Ормерод и Д. Дакворт, изучая отношение школьников к естественнонаучным предметам в рамках STEMобучения в Великобритании (практико ориентированный подход к построению содержания образования и организации учебного процесса, объ единяющий науку, технологии, инженерию и математику). ...
Отношение студентов к научной карьере: кейс Волгоградского государственного технического университетаStudent’s Attitudes towards Scientific Career: The Case of Volgograd State Technical University
Article
Full-text available
  • Sep 2024
Статья посвящена выявлению и оценке представлений студентов о науке и научной карьере. Эмпирической базой исследования выступают данные опроса, проведенного методом онлайн-анкетирования с февраля по март 2023 г. среди студентов пяти вузов Волгограда (N = 1553). Респонденты отбирались методом неслучайной выборки («снежного кома») среди молодежи, которая не имеет опыта научной деятельности. Результаты анкетирования были дополнены структурированными интервью с участниками, отобранными случайно (N = 5). Исследование свидетельствует о низкой значимости науки в качестве потенциальной сферы для построения карьеры. В качестве наиболее значимых критериев при выборе потенциального рабочего места студенты указывают уровень дохода и стабильность: чем выше заработная плата, тем престижнее работа в той или иной области, в том числе и научной. Анализ когнитивной составляющей отношения к науке показал, что студенты в целом положительно воспринимают научную деятельность. Анализ аффективной компоненты свидетельствует о том, что студенты ассоциируют науку с одаренностью, и многие из них не видят себя в будущем учеными по причине отсутствия талантов и низкой самоэффективности. В качестве рекомендаций авторы делают акцент на проактивном подходе к воспроизводству научных кадров. Необходимо демонстрировать потенциальным ученым тесную взаимосвязь между научными исследованиями и решением конкретных прикладных задач.
View
... Non è questa la sede per una analisi politica, ma l'insieme di intenti, qui abbozzato in modo fin troppo schematico, conduce al concetto di "cittadinanza scientifica" che rimanda inesorabilmente al lavoro di Pietro Greco (Greco, 2007;Silvestrini, 2009): semplificando, il diritto all'accesso alla conoscenza e il superamento delle disuguaglianze cognitive come garanzia per la democrazia e il benessere dei cittadini. La scienza quindi a disposizione dell'intera cittadinanza in un'ottica di espansione tra l'avanzamento scientifico e democrazia verso il progresso (Durant, 1989;Cerroni, 2007). I partecipanti al percorso espositivo di ogni età sono invitati ad immergersi nel cuore dell'evoluzione culturale della malattia e rimanere sorpresi dall'enorme e progressivo avanzamento terapeutico nel tempo, portando così di fatto un messaggio importante fuori dalla mostra: una ...
View
... Furthermore, in order to avoid 'alarm fatigue' [31], we would suggest to reconsider the use of the term 'excess mortality' in the mass media and in policy communication. In a publicunderstanding-of-science-perspective [32], for the usual fluctuations around the baseline we would recommend using the term 'higher than expected mortality' symmetrically to the term 'lower than expected mortality' while reserving the more alarmist-sounding term 'excess mortality' only for events above a clearly demarcated threshold. For the upper threshold of a 95%-prediction interval, this would mean that such an event would only be expected with a 2.5% probability, that is once in every 40 years. ...
Meaning and prediction of ‘excess mortality’: a comparison of Covid-19 and pre-Covid-19 mortality data in 31 Eurostat countries from 1965 to 2021
Article
Full-text available
  • May 2024
Determining ‘excess mortality’ makes it possible to compare the burden of disasters between countries and over time, and thus also to evaluate the success of mitigation measures. However, the debate on coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) has exposed that calculations of excess mortalities vary considerably depending on the method and its specification. Moreover, it is often unclear what exactly is meant by ‘excess mortality’. We define excess mortality as the excess over the number of deaths that would have been expected counter-factually, that is without the catastrophic event in question. Based on this definition, we use a very parsimonious calculation method, namely the linear extrapolation of death figures from previous years to determine the excess mortality during the Covid-19 pandemic. But unlike most other literature on this topic, we first evaluated and optimized the specification of our method using a larger historical data set in order to identify and minimize estimation errors and biases. The result shows that excess mortality rates in the literature are often inflated. Moreover, they would have exhibited considerable excess mortalities in the period before Covid-19, if this value had already been of public interest at that time. Three conclusions can be drawn from this study and its findings: (i) All calculation methods for current figures should first be evaluated against past figures. (ii) To avoid alarm fatigue, thresholds should be introduced which would differentiate between ‘usual fluctuations’ and ‘remarkable excess’. (iii) Statistical offices could provide more realistic estimates.
View
View
Beyond Deficits and Conflicts: The Evolution of the Study of Attitudes Towards Evolution, Creation, and Human Origins
Chapter
  • Oct 2024
The ‘deficit model’ of science and society holds that the more you know about science the more you will love it, so rejection of science is based on ignorance. The conflict narrative presents the domains of science and religion in a necessary and enduring conflict due to their essential and epistemic differences. Both the deficit model and the conflict narrative are simplistic stories that simultaneously purport to explain yet actively obscure understanding of various publics’ orientations towards science. Both these discourses intersect in the topic of attitudes towards evolution, creation, and human origins. In this chapter, I argue that critiques of the deficit model and conflict narrative provide their most valuable contribution in opening space to reimagine and more accurately describe public orientations to science. Focusing on literature at the intersection of the public understanding of science (PUS) and what I term science and religion studies (SRS), and using public attitudes towards evolution and creation as a case study, I delineate four avenues that have opened once the dominant narratives of deficit and conflict have been surpassed: beyond acceptance, complexity mapping, moral conflicts, and second-order perspectives.
View
View
Türkiye'de bilim iletişimi çalışmaları (2010-2023): Hakemli dergi makaleleri ve lisansüstü tezler üzerine bibliyometrik analiz [Science communication studies in Türkiye: A Bibliometric analysis on journal articles and postgraduate theses]
Article
Full-text available
  • Jul 2024
This study analyses the bibliometric characteristics of postgraduate theses and peer-reviewed journal articles focusing on science communication in Türkiye. Science communication, which refers to communication between the scientific community and the public through the circulation of any content regarding scientific and technological processes and policies, especially through the media, attracted much attention worldwide in the 1980s. Nevertheless, this research field is still in its infancy in Türkiye. Therefore, it is crucial to explore the themes, methodological approaches, and trends and identify the most productive researchers and institutions in the literature. The study aims to analyze the nationwide academic literature on science communication in terms of bibliometric attributes, thus revealing trends and blind spots in the field. Hence, the research is inherently retrospective and does not aim to make long-term predictions. The notable key findings of the study show that the literature predominantly focuses on the media circulation of science communication and analyzes written media content such as news or magazine articles. Indeed, there is a need for further studies focusing on audience research.
View
Tecnologia e Educação AmbientalTechnology and Environmental Education: the use of QR Code in visits to Conservation UnitsTecnología y Educación Ambiental: el uso de Código QR en visitas a Unidades de Conservación: o uso de QR Code nas visitas em Unidades de Conservação
Article
Full-text available
  • Apr 2024
Diante do aumento dos impactos ambientais, as unidades de conservação (UC) exercem um papel importante na proteção de áreas nativas e na promoção da educação ambiental. No entanto, as UC não costumam ter boa estrutura para o desenvolvimento da educação ambiental. O presente trabalho teve como objetivo analisar o potencial do uso da ferramenta Qr Code em atividades de educação ambiental no Refúgio de Vida Silvestre Mata do Buraquinho, João Pessoa/PB. A atividade consistiu em um percurso, onde os participantes foram divididos em dois grupos, um acompanhado por um guia e outro seguindo um mapa e obtendo informações via Qr Code. A partir da aplicação de de questionários foi observada boa assimilação dos assuntos abordados em ambos os grupos. Os entrevistados consideraram o uso do Qr Code acessível e cativante. Por fim, diante das limitações existentes na visitação do JBBM, a utilização dessa tecnologia apresenta potencial de ampliar as formas de educação ambiental e melhorar a interação das pessoas com o espaço.
View