Terms in Popular Science Communication: The Case of TV Documentaries

Sylvia Jaki

doi:10.7146/hjlcb.v0i58.111689

Abstract

Science documentaries on television aim to provide easy and entertaining access to research findings. To do so, producers need to know how to explain complex content for non-expert audiences in a comprehensible way. At the same time, they have to decide what aspects of a subject might be relevant for viewers, or how the subject matter could be rendered more interesting by employing strategies such as personalisation or emotionalisation. One specific decision concerns the use of terms. Both existing research and journalistic handbooks suggest that terms should be or are, in fact, avoided in popular science contexts. However, there is only little empirical research on the topic. This contribution seeks to test several pre-existing hypotheses on terms in documentaries for adults and show how often terms are used and whether/how they are explained when they appear. Examining terms in four English and four German science documentaries, the analysis points out which communicative resources are used to facilitate the comprehension of terms, and where an explanation seems to focus primarily on entertainment rather than ease of comprehension. The results challenge some of the previous views on terms in popular science communication and reveal that documentaries display highly idiosyncratic strategies when it comes to the use of terms.

Highlights

Science and technology documentaries on TV have to tackle the challenge of transmitting scientific facts, findings and developments to non-expert audiences
When it comes to comprehension, there are three questions that are difficult to answer: a) What does understanding a term mean? In other words: Is it sufficient to get a rough idea of the term’s meaning, or does it have to be understood in detail? b) How important is understanding a specific term for understanding the subject matter as a whole? c) What is the viewers’ personal background knowledge? The producers have a general assumption of what the audience may know, which will influence the way they use terms in documentaries
The analysis of four English and four German documentaries suggests that popular science journalists are aware that terms can be a barrier for comprehension, which leads to a careful ‘dosing’ of terms

Summary

Introduction

Science and technology documentaries on TV have to tackle the challenge of transmitting scientific facts, findings and developments to non-expert audiences. These terms are relatively common in everyday language, where their usage conditions are extended (Fraas 1998: 437), but they are used in the documentaries at hand to refer to something technical This can be illustrated by star, planet or universe: There is a distinction between a star and a planet, such as in the way they form or whether they undergo nuclear reactions by burning hydrogen (which is important in the context in which they are used here); most people will not be aware of this difference, but effortlessly use the two words, . This case-study can only make careful assumptions when it comes to both to the production process and the reception process

Terms in English and German science TV documentaries

Idiosyncrasies of the films

Dealing with terms

Conclusion