Frames of Reference

Over at  scienceblogs.com there is a fairly lively debate over an article by Matthew Nisbet and and Chris Mooney in the journal Science.  In the article the authors suggest, among other things, that scientists must learn how to ‘frame’ information in order to get people’s attention.

As a former journalist I find that a pretty basic way to tell a story and get a point across. Couch the information in high flying language that the average citizen can’t relate to, and they’ll just tune you out. What surprised me was the reaction to the article both in journal itself and to Mr.Nisbet’s blog.

All sorts of suggestions that he was advocating spin and that the public can make up its own mind.

If you don’t have the science literacy and the vocabulary, how can you arrive at a well thought out and useful point of view ? That doesn’t mean you have to agree, and in fact the more debate the better.

But to suggest that giving people a frame of reference to help them understand is somehow doing a disservice to science is missing the point of the Science article. The real issue is that of dissinterest in the science that is changing out world.

Keep the information accurate, keep it in language people understand and most importantly give them a reason to care, and they’ll be able to arrive at their own conclusions or ask their own questions. Either way science will come out the winner.

Genomics on the Hill

Research that has taken years to bear fruit or that is still waiting to show a result that politicians can see or touch, can be a tough sell for Genome Alberta and all the other Genome Centres across the country.

That understanding got a big boost this week when Genome Canada organized the 3rd Genomics on the Hill event in the Commonwealth Room on Parliament Hill. I had the opportunity to attend, meet some of our scientists from across the country, and talk to the politicians.

It was an organizational challenge to encourage MPs, Senators, and senior staff to attend; followed by the challenge of presenting them with information they could understand and framed in a way that made it relevant.

Genome Canada was up to the organizational challenge and several of the researchers put their back into presenting the science. Some excellent posters were set up, and I was impressed at the level of interest from the politicos. They really took the time to ask questions and understand what was going on with the research work across the country. With federal money invested in our projects it is important to make sure the politicians know where the money is going and that it is yielding solid results.