50 POPULARIZATION

• Yes, science is the message in need of more receivers. But how do we get people to pay attention?
• Ways to get people to pay attention to science


  • Promoting science literacy and technology appreciation
  • Informing people about the results or products of research
  • Enhancing interaction among scientists
  • Using new information and communication technologies
• Types of science literacy

  • Popular Science Literacy - allows people to solve everyday problems by applying S&T principles and techniques
  • Civic Science Literacy - allows people to participate intelligently in policy and decision-making in important science-generated issues
  • Cultural Science Literacy - S&T becomes an important part of culture
• Why science is misunderstood?

  • School training is not a very effective preparation for the science now met in adult life
  • The actual words used in science, in many instances, formidable, and unfamiliar
• Popularization


  Communicating the ways and results of science using terms and language easily understood by non-specialists
• Effective communication of scientific information

  1. Attention

  2. Understanding

  3. Acceptance

  4. Action
• Principles of popularization


  • Relevance
  • Interest
  • Clarity
  • Accuracy
• Relevance


  • Early to bed and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise!
• Interest


  • Write about people's experiences how certain events and projects have affected their lives
  • Interpret statistics
  • Quote people you have interviewed
  • Use examples, metaphors analogies
  • Define and explain
• Clarity


  • Use the active voice
  • Use shorter sentences and paragraphs
  • Avoid weak verbs
  • Eliminate unnecessary words
  • Rewrite to eliminate prepositional phrases using of
  • Use imagery
  • Use transitions
  • Logically organize the article around a clear theme
• Accuracy


  • Remember that the writer assumes primary responsibility for the accuracy of the article
  • Go back to your sources of information to check facts
  • Consult with your professional peers to see if what you have written makes sense
  • Be especially careful when recommending something, and stating figures and statistics
• Who suggested the tips for accuracy?

  Center for Foreign Journalism
• It requires moving from:

  • Specialist-oriented treatment of the subject matter to that which can be understood by laymen

  • Elitist to common or popular language

  • Hard to easy reading

  • Limited to general interest or appeal
• POPULARIZATION TECHNIQUES

  Translation

  • Explain and describe technical jargon with the use of more familiar terms.
• Analogy or Comparison of Translation

  • Refer to an object, thing, or idea similar to the concept being discussed.
• Contrast of Translation

  • Describe a concept by contrasting it against an object, thing or, idea that has opposite features or characteristics.
• Reporting of a Process

  • Point out the consequences and the possible solutions to the problem.
• Humanizing

  • Use personal words and sentences.

  • Use words that emphasize genders.

  • Use quotations.

  • Use command verbs.

  • Start with a story.
• Visualization

  • Visuals complement the translation and popularization of complex materials by illustrating the concept through graphs, graphics, maps, and pictures.
• Who suggested the tips for clarity?

  Jamias 1991