Abstract: The National Academies have an enduring interest in making the public and policymakers aware of the value of research to society and have explored many ways of delivering this message effectively. The institution organized two Sackler colloquia on the Science of Science Communications. An important theme that permeated both was the effectiveness of using engaging narrative in explaining how science works and why it’s valuable. Incorporating the human dimension of research builds public trust and credibility by making the public aware of the values that underlie science. Magazine articles such as those by Atul Gawande in the New Yorker and popular books such as The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot have demonstrated that large numbers of non-scientists will read about science if it is communicated in a well-wrought story.
On the analytic front, in recent years science policy scholars have capitalized on the availability of new data mining and analysis tools to develop a more detailed picture of how science is done, how its results are disseminated, and how we understand the larger social benefits that emerge. The DBASSE report Capturing Change in Science, Technology, and Innovation: Improving Indicators to Inform Policy addressed this topic. This work is of great interest to professional analysts, but it is not readily accessible to the general public or policymakers.
The Academies’ Committee on Science, Engineering, and Public Policy (COSEPUP) has been concerned that public understanding of the value of fundamental research is particularly tenuous, with possibly serious implications for long-term federal support for this research. The committee has struggled with the question of how to tell the story of how scientific research contributes to important social goals such as a more productive economy, better public health, a more sustainable environment, and enhanced national security.
COSEPUP is planning a SciSIP-funded workshop in September that will assemble experts in the narrative and data-driven approaches with the research experts who serve on COSEPUP to discuss how these various perspectives can be merged to define a template for a type of communication that encompasses the appeal of narrative, the rigor of new analytic data, and the understanding of how science works in practice.
Bio: Kevin Finneran is director of the Committee on Science, Engineering, and Public Policy (COSEPUP) at the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) in Washington, DC, and editor-in-chief of Issues in Science and Technology, a quarterly policy magazine published jointly by NAS, Arizona State University, and the University of Texas at Dallas.
Previously, Kevin was Washington editor of High Technology magazine, a correspondent for the London Financial Times energy newsletters, and a consultant on science and technology policy. His clients included the National Science Foundation, the Office of Technology Assessment, the U.S. Agency for International Development, and the Environmental Protection Agency.
He is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the author of The Federal Role in Research and Development (National Academy Press, 1985) and a contributing author to Future R&D Environments: A Report to the National Institute of Standards and Technology (National Academy Press, 2002).
