Jensen, Eric and Holliman, Richard (2009) ISOTOPE project findings : evaluating public-science communication. In: Fourth Annual Science and the Public Conference, University of Brighton, 13-14 Jun 2009 (Unpublished)

Abstract

Over the last 20 years social researchers have been consistently critical of simplistic deficit-informed approaches to engaging members of the public, citing (mainly ethnographic) research findings that allude to the importance of engaging a wide range of actors, with differing expertise, in dialogue, consultation and deliberation about emerging (and well established) socioscientific issues. Culminating in the publication of a number of important policy documents since the turn of the millennium, the pioneering work of these social researchers has seen a re-alignment of government and institutional policies in relation to public engagement. Informing Science Outreach and Public Engagement (ISOTOPE), is a NESTA-funded interdisciplinary research project based at the Open University, UK. The project aims to address the emerging context for a more theoretically informed, evidence-based approach to science outreach and public engagement (SCOPE). In this light, the ISOTOPE project team includes social scientists, educational technologists with expertise in the design, delivery and evaluation of web-based technical solutions, and scientists with practical experience of SCOPE from a number of scientific disciplines. In adopting this interdisciplinary collaborative approach, the ISOTOPE project team is using action research methodology to inform the co-production of an open source web portal of theoretically informed evidence-based advice for those interested in participating SCOPE activities. In this presentation we will discuss the data collection methods and results from the first two phases of the study; the results of which are informing the informational resources being developed for science engagement practitioners.

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