Pathways to the public communication of science and technology: Toward a model for scientists' popularization activity.

摘要

Using data from a national survey of U.S. biomedical researchers, the principal goal of this study is to identify the factors and processes that lead scientists to engage in the public communication of science and technology (PCST). The study identifies key factors that contribute to scientists' public communication activity, among them a scientist's status, level of public communication autonomy, use of print and online media, intrinsic rewards, perceived behavioral controls, normative beliefs, and level of medialization. The results move us closer toward having a theoretically based, methodologically sound, process oriented model explaining scientists' popularization activity. This model offers implications that will help guide future PCST research and can be applied to strategic efforts to forge connections between scientists and the public.