The AAAS Center for Public Engagement with Science and Technology often collaborates with researchers from a number of fields to conduct and disseminate research about science communication and public engagement.
Communication Best Practices
Foundational Skills for Science Communication: A Preliminary Framework (2019) Elyse L. Aurbach, Katherine E. Prater, Emily T. Cloyd and Laura Lindenfeld, white paper copublished by the University of Michigan, Alan Alda Center for Communicating Science and American Association for the Advancement of Science, DOIs: dx.doi.org/10.3998/2027.42/150489
Strategic science communication on environmental issues (2016) Matthew C. Nisbet and Ezra Markowitz, Washington, D.C.: AAAS Center for Public Engagement with Science and Technology
Science communication research: bridging theory and practice (2016) Matthew C. Nisbet and Ezra Markowitz, Washington, D.C.: AAAS Center for Public Engagement with Science and Technology
Americans' attitudes about science and technology: the social context for public communication (2016) Matthew C. Nisbet and Ezra Markowitz, Washington, D.C.: AAAS Center for Public Engagement with Science and Technology
Typology for public engagement with science: a conceptual framework for public engagement involving scientists (2016) Martin Storksdieck, Cathlyn Stylinski and Deborah Bailey, Corvallis, OR: Center for Research on Lifelong STEM Learning
Public engagement research and major approaches (2015) Matthew C. Nisbet and Ezra Markowitz, Washington, D.C.: AAAS Center for Public Engagement with Science and Technology
Public engagement with and communication of science in a web-2.0 media environment (2015) Sara K. Yeo, Washington, D.C.: AAAS Center for Public Engagement with Science and Technology
Evaluating Public Engagement
Assessing public engagement outcomes by the use of an outcome expectations scale for scientists (2017) Karen Peterman, Jane Robertson Evia, Emily Cloyd & John C. Besley, Science Communication, Vol. 39, Issue 6, Pages 782-797, DOI: doi.org/10.1177/1075547017738018
Validating a scale that measures scientists’ self-efficacy for public engagement with science (2017) Jane Robertson Evia, Karen Peterman, Emily Cloyd & John Besley, International Journal of Science Education, Part B, DOI: doi.org/10.1080/21548455.2017.1377852
Scientists’ prioritization of communication objectives for public engagement (2016) John C. Besley and Anthony Dudo, PLOS ONE, DOI: doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0148867
Scientists' views about communication training (2015) John C. Besley, Anthony Dudo and Martin Storksdieck, Journal of Research in Science Teaching, Vol. 52, No. 2, Pages 199-220, DOI: 10.1002/tea.21186
What do scientists think about the public and does it matter to their online engagement? (2014) John C. Besley, Science and Public Policy, Vol. 42, No. 2, Pages 201-214, DOI: doi.org/10.1093
Science in Policymaking
Communicating science to Congress: This project examined the factors that affect how scientific information is used in the personal offices of members of Congress. A workshop in Fall 2017 initiated the project, and in 2017-2018 the team interviewed and surveyed legislative staff from the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate to map opportunities and barriers in applying scientific information within legislative contexts; the interplay of new knowledge with behavior, past experience, and culture; and the nature of the interaction between scientists and policymakers. Read more about this study in AAAS News: Taking science to Capitol Hill: AAAS workshop explores opportunities—and challenges—in communicating science for policy in Congress
- Investigators: Karen Akerlof, AAAS Visiting Scholar, Research Assistant Professor, George Mason University and Adjunct Faculty, Johns Hopkins University; Maria Carmen Lemos, Professor and Associate Dean for Research at University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability; Emily Therese Cloyd, Project Director at AAAS Center for Public Engagement with Science and Technology; and Erin Heath, Associate Director at AAAS Office of Government Relations
- A collaboratively derived international research agenda on legislative science advice (2019) Karen Akerlof et al., Palgrave Communications, DOI: doi.org/10.1057/s41599-019-0318-6
- Barriers in communicating science for policy in Congress (2018) Karen L. Akerlof, Maria Carmen Lemos, Emily T. Cloyd, Erin Heath, Selena Nelson, Julia Hathaway, and Kristin Timm, Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, 2018 Annual Conference, Washington, D.C.
- Who Isn’t Biased? Perceived Bias as a Dimension of Credibility in Communication of Science with Policymakers (2018) Karen L. Akerlof, Maria Carmen Lemos, Emily T. Cloyd and Erin Heath, Iowa State University Summer Symposium on Science Communication, Ames, IA. DOI: doi.org/10.31274/sciencecommunication-181114-18 (Proceedings of the Symposium are available here.)
- Congress's Use of Science: Considerations for Science Organizations in Promoting the Use of Evidence in Policymaking (2017; Updated 2019) Karen Akerlof, Washington, D.C.: AAAS Center for Public Engagement with Science and Technology
Evidence-based science communications with policymakers: This project examined the communication and use of science within the policymaking arena. The research team integrated existing scholarly literature with new empirical findings from a survey of science communicators, case studies of science-relevant legislating, and qualitative interviews with policymakers. The resulting set of best practices for presenting science to policymakers is available on the American University website.
- Investigators: Elizabeth Suhay, Assistant Professor of Government at American University; Emily Therese Cloyd, Project Director at AAAS Center for Public Engagement with Science and Technology; Erin Heath, Associate Director at AAAS Office of Government Relations; and Erin Nash, PhD Candidate at Durham University
- Archived Webinar: A Scientific Approach to Social Science Communication, Social Science Space, July 26, 2019
- Research project will help scientists better communicate with policymakers, Associations Now, November 29, 2017
- Joint effort gets underway to inform scientists’ policy engagement, AAAS News, November 20, 2017
- NAS announces awards for building capacity for science communication partnerships, National Academy of Sciences, July 14, 2017