All entries for Saturday 06 June 2009

Week 19: Scientists as public experts

Follow-up to Week 18: Science Education: For Scientists or Citizens from Every Nightmare Begins As a Dream

This week’s topic was a bit of an off one as there didn’t seem to be very much to sink my teeth into. We looked at what is was to be an expert and the qualities that journalists look for when selecting experts to quote (they ring back is usually a top criteria). Theoretically being a scientific expert should (from the perspective of a scientist) mean that you’re at the forefront of research in your field (and you could only use your expert credentials in that field). As a public expert you need more atributes than that – communication skills are key, journalists need people to quote who can effectively provide soundbites and give clear and understandable descriptions of processes. They need to be able to see the possible applications of a finding or be prepared to warn of negative consequences. They need to offer unequivocal answers.
As a result public experts tend to be scientists towards the ends of their careers who have built up their communication skills and have little to lose by putting their necks out. Otherwise they are from relevant administative organisations.

Helen Ryan : 06 Jun 2009 19:45 |  Tags: Msc Science And The Public |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Trackbacks (1) |  Report a problem