What does the American public think about why scientists communicate with them?  

Join us for a live Trellis discussion on Tuesday, March 29^th from 3:00-4:00pm ET with John Kotcher, Ph.D. candidate at George Mason University. Social attribution research has found that inferences about a communicator's intentions can affect an audience's judgments of their credibility. To follow up on these findings, John and his colleagues conducted a nationally representative survey of 1,000 members of the public that asked for up to five reasons why scientists might communicate about their work, and whether they think those are "good" or "bad" reasons  (the poster they developed is available on Trellis). The reason most frequently cited by survey respondents was to inform and educate, which most considered a very good reason for communicating. Other top reasons included getting funding, advancing an agenda, or seeking publicity or fame. They also found that political ideology affected responses.

 

If you are interested in participating, please email Elana (ekimbrel@aaas.org) and she will send you an invitation to join the Public Engagement with Science group on Trellis . It will come from an @trelliscience.com address.   The AAAS Center for Public Engagement with Science is using the Trellis platform to foster an online community for public engagement professionals - scientists, those researching public engagement, and the practitioners who translate public engagement research to practice. The group, much like the platform as a whole, is in its beta phase; as the technical team at AAAS works out the kinks of the platform, the Center is experimenting with ways to foster community across the many fields and interests that work on public engagement with science.  You're invited to join!