Author: Alexandra Anghelescu Tiganas – University of Bucharest, Romania
We asked a large group of Romanian researchers who have received funding through a state agency within the past five years to answer a questionnaire designed to assess their attitude toward public engagement, as well as their perception of the public in general.
The approach for this research was suggested by Levy-Leblond’s statement from his article in the first issue of Public Understanding of Science Journal, in 1992: “(S)hould we not supplement our studies and activities on the understanding of science by the public, with studies and activities on the understanding of the public by scientists?”
The conference will be the first time that the preliminary results of this study are shared with an international audience. I expect to bring results from a country previously absent from this arena, as well as a new direction for research relevant to the wider audience of PCST.
The questionnaire is based on the Theory of Planned Behavior, according to a direction followed by many researchers since 2007, when Poliakoff and Webb’s paper, “What Factors Predict Scientists Intention to Participate in Public Engagement of Science Activities”, was published in Science Communication, as well as Wrightsman’s Philosophies of Human Nature questionnaire, described in 1962 in the “Measurement of Philosophies of Human Nature” paper published in Psychological Reports.
The research is ongoing at the time of this submission. However, the results will be in and processed by the time of the presentation, which will likely propose a new understanding regarding the gap areas for science communication in countries like Romania, with weak public engagement by the scientists.
The author has not yet submitted a copy of the full paper.
Presentation type: Insight talk
Theme: Time