Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2014 Sep 16;111 Suppl 4(Suppl 4):13585-92.
doi: 10.1073/pnas.1317516111. Epub 2014 Sep 15.

Science communication as political communication

Dietram A Scheufele  1
Affiliations

Science communication as political communication

Dietram A Scheufele. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. .

Abstract

Scientific debates in modern societies often blur the lines between the science that is being debated and the political, moral, and legal implications that come with its societal applications. This manuscript traces the origins of this phenomenon to professional norms within the scientific discipline and to the nature and complexities of modern science and offers an expanded model of science communication that takes into account the political contexts in which science communication takes place. In a second step, it explores what we know from empirical work in political communication, public opinion research, and communication research about the dynamics that determine how issues are debated and attitudes are formed in political environments. Finally, it discusses how and why it will be increasingly important for science communicators to draw from these different literatures to ensure that the voice of the scientific community is heard in the broader societal debates surrounding science.

Keywords: advocacy; deficit model; medialization; motivated reasoning; public attitudes.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The author declares no conflict of interest.

Figures

Fig. 1.
Fig. 1.
Models of science communication: How views of the science–society interface among social scientists and practitioners have evolved over time.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Miller JD, Scott EC, Okamoto S. Science communication: Public acceptance of evolution. Science. 2006;313(5788):765–766. - PubMed
    1. Nisbet MC, Myers T. The Polls—Trends: Twenty years of public opinion about global warming. Public Opin Q. 2007;71(3):444–470.
    1. Ho SS, Brossard D, Scheufele DA. Effects of value predispositions, mass media use, and knowledge on public attitudes toward embryonic stem cell research. Int J Public Opin Res. 2008;20(2):171–192.
    1. Scheufele DA. Communicating science in social settings. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 2013;110(Suppl 3):14040–14047. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Westfall RS. Science and patronage: Galileo and the telescope. Isis. 1985;76(1):11–30.

Publication types