public science in modern times

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Public Science in Modern Times: The Social Context for Journalism & Communication @MCNisbet Matthew C. Nisbet Northeastern University

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Page 1: Public Science in Modern Times

Public Science in Modern Times: The Social Context for Journalism & Communication

@MCNisbet

Matthew C. NisbetNortheastern University

Page 2: Public Science in Modern Times

Science Literacy and Educational Disparities

@MCNisbet

Page 3: Public Science in Modern Times

More Media Choices – Less Attention to News

@MCNisbet

Page 4: Public Science in Modern Times

Popular Science + Social Disparities = Knowledge Gaps

@MCNisbet

Page 5: Public Science in Modern Times

Science Literacy and Identity Protective Cognition

@MCNisbet

Dan Kahan

Kahan, D. M., Peters, E., Wittlin, M., Slovic, P., Ouellette, L. L., Braman, D., & Mandel, G. (2012). The polarizing impact of science literacy and numeracy on perceived climate change risks. Nature Climate Change, 2(10), 732-735.

Page 6: Public Science in Modern Times

Political Polarization and Gridlock

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From Keith Poole’s Vote View blog

Sputnik – Apollo

NEPAGH BUSH

Page 7: Public Science in Modern Times

Geographic Sorting by Partisanship and Ideology

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Page 8: Public Science in Modern Times

Rapid Transformation of News & Political Discourse

@MCNisbet

Page 9: Public Science in Modern Times

Politicizing Perceptions of Ebola

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Nisbet, M.C. & Markowitz, E. (2016, March). Americans’ Attitudes About Science and Technology: The Social Context For Public Communication. AAAS Leshner Leadership Institute. Washington, DC: American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Page 10: Public Science in Modern Times

Selective Attention to Science and Society Debates

@MCNisbet

Nisbet, M.C. & Markowitz, E. (2015). Expertise in an Age of Polarization: Evaluating Scientists’ Political Awareness and Communication Behaviors. Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 658, 136-154..

Page 11: Public Science in Modern Times

Wicked Problems in a Runaway World

@MCNisbet

o Wicked problems like climate change, pandemics, and social

inequality span national borders and class distinctions, disrupting entire economies, political systems, and ways of life.

o They are rooted in our own success as a modern society, tangled up with industrialization, free trade, scientific advances, global communications, and higher standards of living. They have no single cause and no clear solution. Can only do better or worse at managing over time.

o Yet our inability to effectively manage these transcendent threats has created new sources of public doubt and anxiety, eroding trust in government and expert authority, creating a deep sense of social malaise.

Nisbet, M.C. (2014). Disruptive Ideas: Public Intellectuals and their Arguments for Action on Climate Change. Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews Climate Change, 5, 809–823..

Page 12: Public Science in Modern Times

Political Control in an Age of Post-Normal Science

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o Controversies over climate change, food biotech, and nuclear

energy are debates over political control.

o Appeals to scientific authority obscure competing views of nature, government, the market, justice, progress, autonomy and community.

o Which values, interpretations, and worldviews matter and who gets to decide?

o Focusing on the translation of scientific evidence often fuels polarization, since such evidence is often sufficiently tentative enough to indefinitely support the values-based arguments of competing sides.

Nisbet, M.C. (2014). Engaging in Science Policy Controversies: Insights from the U.S. Debate Over Climate Change. Handbook of the Public Communication of Science and Technology, 2nd Edition. London: Routledge (pp. 173-185).

Page 13: Public Science in Modern Times

Brexit: Globalization, Resentment and Distrust

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Page 14: Public Science in Modern Times

Partisan Sorting, Social Insecurity & Climate Beliefs

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Page 15: Public Science in Modern Times

Optimists or Pessimists?American Views on Science and Society

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Page 16: Public Science in Modern Times

Scientists Enjoy Strong Communication Capital

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Page 17: Public Science in Modern Times

Climate Scientists & Federal Agencies Most Trusted

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