Subject Fundamental Research On Science Communication

Surveys suggest that the public does not know much about science in china, and it appears the scientists don't know much about the public. In addition, researches indicate continued high levels of interest in science but continuing low levels of understanding of science. This is to some extent affected by the lack of research on science communication in china. Science communication has recently been receiving more attention, research on this subject is becoming active, and some results have been gained. However, further study on this area is still under shortage, especially for the academic research on the subject such as the history of science, the philosophy of science and the sociology of science.This thesis will start with analyzing the conception of science communication, noting the differences between science communication and technology communication. Science communication is typically thought of as the activities of professional communicators (journalists, public information officers, scientists themselves). Actually, it has many levels, including not only the one facing public, but also the internal communication in science community, and transmission between science and other cultures. From the appearance of traditional popularization of science, the concept of science communication experienced the evolution through popularization of science, and public understanding of science, to its present form. However, little work of traditional popularization of science has specifically examined the public's ideas and assumptions about science communication, despite the fact that these will certainly affect the ways in which they engage in such activities. Then, they realized that "public" has playing a very important role in science communication. The author then analyses the major model on science communication research, including John Durant's deficit model, democracy model and Brian Wynne's reflexivity model.Chapter 2 is the key part of this thesis. The author tries to explain how the science communication was impacted by the history of science, the philosophy of science and the sociology of science. The importance of this should not be underestimated. As the foundation of science communication, they provide this subject with academic resources, the overview on the development of science, the correct outlook on the world and science, and defining the essence of science, so that people can notice the dependence between science and other social system. Besides, these subjects point out the future of science communication.Under this background, chapter 3 refers to practical work of science communication, aiming to guide this work with fundamental theory. The author firstly makes clear the purpose of science communication, and then analyzes the change of the idea of public and draws the conclusion that the public is every person in society. The focus will be finally put on its major form, mass media. The main problems, their reasons, and relevant solutions are discussed afterward. The history of science, the philosophy of science and the sociology of science provide the foundations for further research and evaluation. With the guidance, the future of science communication is expected to be better.