Science Communications Research Groups
On this page, you'll find research groups that focus on science communications.
University of Wisconsin-Madison, Science, Media & the Public Research Group
About: “We are a research group at the University of Wisconsin-Madison working on issues broadly related to the social, legal, and ethical implications of controversial scientific issues and emerging technologies.”
The Cultural Cognition Project
http://www.culturalcognition.net/kahan
Creator: Dan Kahan, Yale Law School
About: “Dan Kahan is the Elizabeth K. Dollard Professor of Law & Professor of Psychology at Yale Law School. His primary research interests (for the moment, anyway) are risk perception, science communication, and the application of decision science to law and policy making. He is a member of the Cultural Cognition Project, an interdisciplinary team of scholars who use empirical methods to examine the impact of group values on perceptions of risk and related facts. In studies funded by the National Science Foundation, his research has investigated public disagreement over climate change, public reactions to emerging technologies, and conflicting public impressions of scientific consensus.”
The Annenberg Public Policy Center, University of Pennsylvania
https://www.annenbergpublicpolicycenter.org/
About: “The Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania has been the premier communication policy center in the country since its founding in 1993. APPC’s work has informed the policy debates around campaign finance, children’s television, Internet privacy, tobacco advertising and the tone of discourse in Washington.”
More: Projects include the Science Media Monitor (supported by the Rita Allen Foundation, first report looked at the depiction of scientific process in mainstream media pubs), the Annenberg Science Knowledge Survey (surveying public attitudes towards often controversial science topics), Culture of Health and Media Portrayal in Our Nation (studying long term changes in movie content that depicts risky or violent behavior); Annenberg Center for Advanced Study in Communication (a fellowship program for recent PHD recipients in communications); SciCheckand FactCheck.com.
Social Science Research Council
About: “The Social Science Research Council (SSRC) is an independent, international, nonprofit organization founded in 1923. It fosters innovative research, nurtures new generations of social scientists, deepens how inquiry is practiced within and across disciplines, and mobilizes necessary knowledge on important public issues. The SSRC is guided by the belief that justice, prosperity, and democracy all require better understanding of complex social, cultural, economic, and political processes. We work with practitioners, policymakers, and academic researchers in the social sciences, related professions, and the humanities and natural sciences. We build interdisciplinary and international networks, working with partners around the world to link research to practice and policy, strengthen individual and institutional capacities for learning, and enhance public access to information.”
Arizona State University’s (ASU) Center for Engagement and Training in Science and Society
https://science.asu.edu/center-engagement-and-training-science-and-society
About: “The Center for Engagement and Training in Science and Society is a multi-disciplinary research center with eight core programs designed to change how we as a society think about, learn about, and talk about science and technology. Center members work to dissolve boundaries and to confront challenges with creativity through the development of novel approaches to interaction and engagement and integration of multiple disciplines, education levels, experiences, areas of expertise and modes of communication. The center is housed in ASU’s Consortium for Science, Policy & Outcomes (CSPO), where existing research and partnerships will be leveraged to integrate natural sciences, social sciences, ethics, education, communication and journalism.”
Pew Research Center
Summary: Provides leading polling research on the public understanding of science and key, contentious science-related issues and policies.
About: “Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan fact tank that informs the public about the issues, attitudes and trends shaping the world. We conduct public opinion polling, demographic research, content analysis and other data-driven social science research. We do not take policy positions.”
Center for Climate Change Communication, George Mason University
https://www.climatechangecommunication.org/
About: “We develop and apply social science insights to help society make informed decisions that will stabilize the earth’s life-sustaining climate, and prevent further harm from climate change.”
More: Researchers with the Center helped write the Debunking Misinformation Handbook 2020. The Center also issues reports on how journalists write about climate change.
Yale Program on Climate Change Communication
https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/
Creator: Yale University
About: “We conduct scientific research on public climate change knowledge, attitudes, policy preferences, and behavior, and the underlying psychological, cultural, and political factors that influence them. We also engage the public in climate change science and solutions, in partnership with governments, media organizations, companies, and civil society, and with a daily, national radio program, Yale Climate Connections.”
Mission: “Our mission is to advance the science of climate change communication, help leaders communicate more effectively, and increase the public's understanding of climate risks and opportunities.”
University of Southern California, Dornsife Mind and Society Center
https://dornsife.usc.edu/mindandsociety
About: “Our research addresses the interface of individual and society by investigating how people think about societal issues and how societal context shapes individuals' thoughts and actions. Understanding this interface requires insight into the context sensitivity of basic cognitive and affective processes, which we study in laboratory experiments and social surveys, and their real-world implications, which we study through field experiments and controlled interventions. On the theoretical side, all of our work shares a focus on how individual thinking, feeling, and doing is shaped by often subtle features of the immediate context and the broader societal and cultural environment in which this context is embedded. On the applied side, our work aims to leverage insight into these processes to improve individual and societal decision making.”
