I agree, how can we communicate effectively with "the public"
unless we understand them? We need to understand what
they want to know, how they would like it delivered and
whether they even pay any attention to our efforts! But there
are ways of tackling these difficult questions while avoiding
the dreaded sociology-speak...
On 7 Mar 00, at 14:42, Andy, Ea wrote:
> The way that scientists view the public is critical. For too long, we have
> lived with the mantra that scientists are members of the public, just like
> anyone else. In a pedantic sense this is true, but it is not a useful
> concept. Scientists take a different attitude to science from many other
> people. It’s because they are more knowledgeable and because they play the
> game differently. Think of professional [male] footballers for a moment:
> * Does being different from their public (better at
> football, women and spending money) matter to them? * And does this
> attitude sometimes offend their publics [fans?]
Eh? "Better at ... women"??? (or am I displaying sense-of-
humour deficit here?).
> Or should scientists be using a third party? Perhaps all those science
> communicators on psci-com would be better employed communicating to
> scientists rather than the public. Why are we not building science centres
> to inform scientists about the public, rather than trying entertain the
> public with science?
Or building web sites to inform scientists about the public
and best practice in communicating with the public about
science?
The STEMPRA compendium of practical advice contains
some basic hints and tips about communicating with the
public (and evaluating such activities), based on engaging
them rather than educating them ex-cathedra (as some
scientists still advocate).
You can find it at
http://www2.ifr.bbsrc.ac.uk/stempra/COMPENDIUM/DEFAUL
T/HTML
Cheers
Barbara
Barbara Davies, STEMPRA Newsletter Editor
Work:
RDS - Understanding Animal Research in Medicine
58 Great Marlborough Street, London W1V 1DD
Tel 020 7287 2818 Fax 020 7287 2627
E-mail [log in to unmask]
http://www.rds-online.org.uk
Home:
Tel/fax 07000 750159 Email [log in to unmask]
Visit the STEMPRA web site at http://www2.ifr.bbsrc.ac.uk/stempra/
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