Examining the Discourse of Effective Science Communicators Using Epistemic Network Analysis

Abstract

Science communication, or the dissemination of scientific information to public entities, allows science communities to share ideas, impact policy, garner public support, and provide education. Recent calls have highlighted the need to move beyond the dominant models of science communication towards a model of explaining and viewing science communication as a form of social meaning-making or culture. Viewing science communication as a culture requires a systematic way to analyze and model the meaning-making to allow researchers to understand better how effective science communicators interact with the public to inform science communication training and education. We argue that quantitative ethnography (QE) and epistemic network analysis (ENA) are promising methodologies and tools to analyze and model science communication culture systematically. Our findings suggest that ENA networks can model how speakers employ science communication techniques and their interactions, the differences among speakers, and highlight how a speaker's presentation may change over time. Collectively, science communicators centered their TED Talks around the audience, attending to the audience’s thoughts, feelings, and understanding of the topic.