Translating Technology, Science and Health: Public Information Officers as Knowledge Transfer Intermediaries

Judith Mcintosh White

doi:10.29333/ojcmt/2381

Abstract

PIOs (PIOs) link transfer of technology/science/health knowledge between researchers and journalists. PIOs’ orientation toward acquiring technology/science/health knowledge is important to PIOs’ choices of education, training, and occupational experience. The purpose of this study was (1) to conceptualize a way to measure such orientation, using descriptive data from an Internet survey of a random sample of PIOs to construct an exploratory scale to measure technology/science/health orientation (TSHO) and (2) to test the constructed TSHO scores as predictors of PIOs’ job performance. Results showed respondent PIOs’ calculated TSHO scores to range from 0 to 5 (out of a possible maximum of 6), with a mean of 2.38 and a mode of 2. TSHO score was a statistically significant predictor for variety of story topics covered by PIOs but not of number of scientist sources used in their information subsidies. Further research and analysis are needed to validate scale construction and to test its predictive ability across additional samples.

Highlights

Concern over the status of science literacy in the United States prompted the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 1985 to launch Project 2061, a “long-term initiative to help all Americans become literate in science, mathematics, and technology” (AAAS, 2009)
This article focuses on those attributes pointing toward the existence of a career path for PIOs, which taken together make up their orientation toward technology/science/health, an orientation contributing to their attitudes, work products, workplace choices, and dispositions toward National Association of Science Writers (NASW)
Analysis of descriptive data revealed the majority of PIOs had earned masters degrees, majored journalism or in fields related to technology/science/health, completed specialized job training in addition to their formal education, completed six or more years in the field of public information, clustered between six and 15 years of membership in NASW, and specialized in technology/science/health journalism

Summary

Introduction

Concern over the status of science literacy in the United States prompted the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 1985 to launch Project 2061, a “long-term initiative to help all Americans become literate in science, mathematics, and technology” (AAAS, 2009). Part of the AAAS initiative included outlines for more effectively using mass media to communicate science to the public. Reporters may see themselves as agents mediating information between scientists and experts and the public. Some researchers have found media either incompetent to transmit information about issues as complex as global warming or introducing confusion about it; such researchers feel the media can be trusted to communicate only simple ideas (Meyer, 2006). Mormont and Dasnoy (1995), for example, recommend more active roles for expert sources in interpreting science: “The construction of news involves the commitment of actors — mainly experts — and the development of a framework of reference” (p. 63)

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