“…more and more citizens are turning to online resources—like Wikipedia—for concise explanations of numerous scientific issues.” (see below)
4S 2015 was held in Denver, Colorado from November 11-14. 4S stands for the Society for Social Studies of Science - an organization “founded in 1975 with an international membership of over 1,200.” A regular participant of the society, Dr. Noriko Hara presented a paper at the conference (abstract included here) -
Interpretation of Contentious Scientific Knowledge in the Age of Social media
The ability to not only understand and interpret, but also identify reliable scientific knowledge is essential in the modern world. Presently, more and more citizens are turning to online resources—like Wikipedia—for concise explanations of numerous scientific issues. Given the growing popularity of and widespread reliance on tools like Wikipedia, the content of which is generated by ordinary citizens sharing and co-constructing knowledge online, the question arises: do resources like Wikipedia articles present users with objective scientific information given the fact that content is not necessarily generated by scientists and/or bonafide experts? Complicating the issue is that scientific knowledge does not exist in a “void.” Rather, it is the result of a process influenced by social, political, and other natural factors (Jasanoff, 2004). The purpose of this study is to identify how ordinary citizens digest and interpret scientific knowledge presented in social media. This presentation will identify where communication of scientific knowledge by the general public most often occurs and why. I will accomplish this by presenting interviews of mothers to determine how they make decisions about child vaccinations. The results of the study will also further develop the conceptualization of scientific “credibility” from a layperson’s perspective. Previous studies have primarily examined “credibility” from scientists’ perspectives (e.g., Gieryn, 1983). However, there is a need to advance this conceptualization as more and more information becomes accessible to ordinary citizens via social media.
References:
Gieryn, T. F. (1983). Boundary-work and the demarcation of science from non-science: Strains and interests in professional ideologies of scientists. American Sociological Review, 48(6), 781-795.
Jasanoff, S. (2004). Ordering knowledge, ordering society. In S. Jasanoff (Ed.), States of knowledge: The co-production of science and social order (pp. 13-45). New York, NY: Routledge.