Science Literacy
August 31, 2007 10:30 AM
Filed Under: Mikenomics
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.
There were all sorts of suggestions that he was advocating spin and that the public can and make up its own mind.
Well I'd suggest that 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 somehow missing the point.
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.
Posted by Mike Spear at August 31, 2007 10:30 AM