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Scene Setting: Discussing Science in a Digital AgeSteven Ginnis

Head of Digital Research, Social Research Institute 27/03/15

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The rise of mobile internet

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Use of social media continues to increase

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Q. From which one or two of these, if any, do you hear or read about new scientific research findings most often?

Bases: 1,749 UK adults aged 16+; 510 16-24 year-olds

Are people talking about science online?

59% TV 14% radio15% online newspapers/

news websites

6% social networks

23% print newspapers

19% among 16-24 year-olds

Of whom, 69% mention BBC News

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ONLINE

TELEPHONEFACE TO

FACE

POSTAL

QUALITATIVE

DEPTHWORKSHOPS

FOCUS

GROUPS

MOBILESOCIAL

LISTENING

DELIBERATIONETHNOGRAPHY

PAS 2014 employed a mix of quant and qual methodologies, including some new innovations…

BIG DATA

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The project includeded 4 waves of social listening

• Ipsos MORI, on behalf of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, conducted a year long research exercise into how people talk about some key science topics/stories online (the topics were chosen in conjunction with BIS).

• The Brandwatch social media platform was used to measure internet traffic volumes on different subjects across a range of online sources, including Twitter, forums, blogs and news.

• Some of the data was then analysed qualitatively, looking at who was talking and what they were saying, and searching for themes, patterns and linkages

Meteor in Russia

Horsemeat

GM food

Badger cull

Fracking

Measles outbreak

Climate change

Animal research

Jan-Mar Apr-Jun Jul-Oct Oct-Dec

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Social listening helped scope volume and language of discussion on key science topics throughout the year…

0

500

1000

1500

Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

Horsemeat

Meteor

Measles

GM food

Fracking

Badger cull

Climate change

Animal research

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Map of how IPCC report from Sept 2013 was discussed online

But we have to be careful… identifying relevant discussion

can be difficult

Armed police officer

reinstated because

sex on duty is 'like a

tea break' - MIRROR

http://bit.ly/1eHvK6R

#ipcc

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Measuring sentiment can be tricky too

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46

41

60

37

4

200 sample

Automated sentiment:

positive, neutral, negative

Same 200 sample

Manual coding: pro, anti,

neutral climate change

Oh god turned over to news night and

the looney greens banging on about

climate change ? Yup it's called

weather you @!*&s

RT @[name]: Way to go, elected officials!

#idiots House Votes To Deny Climate

Science And Ties Pentagonu2019s

Hands On Climate Change http://tu2026RT @[name]: Climate change is clear and

present danger, says landmark US

reportnhttp://t.co/d4Qty8TaASn#climatechang

e #psaenvironment @RCu2026

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Evaluating the #BackClimateAction campaign taught us some valuable lessons

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How should we interpret the metrics we’ve inherited from Tech development?

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Time for a new approach?

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What is an ‘online community’?

Each online community is its very own dynamic, interactive ‘space’: the ‘home’ of a panel

of research participants. Bespoke communities of all sizes can be set up for specific

projects; they can be open, private, or both.

Bespoke design.

Members have their own profile, and

are invited to take part in regular

activities – such as surveys, forums

and live discussion groups.

Activities can be filtered to selected

target groups of respondents, or

based on members’ responses to a

previous activity.

All content is moderated by the core

research team but participants are able

to comment on each other.

Panel management modules included

to track participation & synthesise

findings over multiple activities.

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How can we use online communities to broaden reach

and engagement?

Each environment is tailored to suit

individual projects:

• Should the community be open,

private, or both?

• A one-off event, or reoccurring?

Open forum

- Open engagement via a weblink and email invite

- Open for a prolonged period

Closed forum

- Invitation only – via email invite

- Open for a short one-off period

Members’ Community

- Invitation only – via email invite

- Permanently open (for a fixed period or until further notice)

Members’ Base

- Invitation only – via email invite

- Open at intervals throughout the life of the panel

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Exploring science online – what did we learn from

PAS 2014?

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What did we achieve?

• Insight in to the way people perceive science today, and how they

receive and share news about science.

• The results have been used to inform Government on the way in

which science should be communicated, and to aid the design of

the Public Attitudes to Science survey.

What did we do?

• A mixed method approach over three waves

• 2 ‘qualitative’ surveys (incorporating a high number of

open ended questions)

• 2 online discussion boards

• 4 online discussion groups

• Respondent blogs on a specific research task (sharing

news on science with a friend)

Over the course of a year, we had access to over 1,000

people through an online community

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So… how can digital methods improve

science dialogue?

Online

participation

continues to

grow and

can

snowball

Front

end tech

brings lots of

opportunity

for

deliberation

There are still people

who won’t be able to

take part – need to

assess how important

this is and how methods

can complement each

other.

Power to track

attitudes and

experiences

over time

Ability to

bring people

(& stakeholders)

together

A useful tool for

stakeholder

engagement in it’s

own right? Can also

foster discussion

between public,

experts and policy

makers

Back end tech

synthesises analysis

across activities at

both individual and

subgroup level; also

allows for coding of

data

The site can host

lots of project

specific materials;

host videos; foster

co-creation.

Very important for

framing discussion

on science.