We now know how social scientists create knowledge, but how do they communicate this information to the outside world and what are the challenges involved in doing so? In this second section of the module, we will dive into the topic of how social scientists communicate with the public. We will reflect on their communication process alongside with their struggles, threats, and challenges of public communication. Last but not least, we will discuss how social scientists deal with distrust in our current era of information abundance. In the TRESCA project, we conducted a study on the communication habits of European scientists. We discovered that about 80 percent of our participants have significant interests in what is called in-reach communication. A process where scientists communicate with their findings with fellow scientists. In this setting, researchers publish articles and scientific journals read by their peers, present findings at academic conferences, give seminars and lectures that are aimed primarily at their colleagues. Additionally, they make use of social media and other Internet-based services and websites to communicate their research findings with their peers. These practices are seen to ensure the quality of research prior to the next step of engaging more directly with the public. The shift to communicating scientific knowledge with the public is then referred to as outreach science communication. This type of communication includes public lectures, seminars, workshops, interviews with journalists, and other activities that aim to engage the public with relative relevant scientific findings. Scientists also use online tools, such as social media, websites and blogs to publish their findings and interact with the public. In this way, they can generate visibility for their own research as well as accumulate new ideas and perspectives. However, our research found that scientists are less inclined to participate in outreach communication than they are for in-reach activities. This suggests that there may be certain limitations and challenges that scientists face when communicating knowledge with the public, such as a lack of time and resources. Despite this, we have begun to see more scientists opening up to the idea of communicating their research findings with non-professionals, students, and citizens more generally. This raises a particular question for researchers. What audience is being engaged with when communicating research more broadly? The boundaries between in-reach and outreach communication are increasingly blurred given the use of social media and developments like more open access scientific journals and citizen science initiatives. Different audiences have different goals, needs, knowledge, and skills. These differences need to be considered when effectively communicating trustworthy information. In communicating to diverse audiences, social scientists must ask themselves, what is the goal in communicating this message? Is it to inform, to influence, or to engage the public? Given this situation, social scientists increasingly need more training to help determine the best ways to ensure that their research is seen as trustworthy. In addition to finding ways to communicate effectively, it is also necessary to consider the channels through which this will occur. For instance, a study by Huber and coauthors shows that there's a positive relationship between communication through social media and trust and social science. The coronavirus pandemic has proven to minimize geographical gaps between audiences but it has also shown how much a platform can promote the spread of misinformation, conspiracy theories, hoaxes, and rumors. As we have learned about the possibilities of science, misinformation in digital platforms. How can scientists deal with the distrust that people have in science? One method that scientists can use is to establish self-interest from the audience. As political scientists Russell Hardin has suggested, scientific audiences will develop a more trusting relationship with researchers if they consider the findings are valuable to them. Trust can also be established between scientists and their audience by developing positive reputations. For example, people would be more likely to trust this TRESCA course if their friends were all to positively evaluate the course, which in turn builds a positive reputation for us. To overcome distrust in science, scientists need to first make sure that their research findings deserve to be trusted. Trustworthy research is ethical, it's transparent, and it is independently evaluated. This helps guarantee the reliability and validity of research outcomes. However, it does not ensure that communicated scientific knowledge is of interest or value to the public. Public interests is an essential component in establishing public trust in science. However, gaining this interest is difficult to achieve. Scientists should consider how they might demonstrate that their research is beneficial to the public. Meaning that they need to listen to and engage with public concerns. As we close this video, let's recap on what we have explored about the external communication process in social scientific communication. We first discussed how knowledge is communicated externally in a digital age. We then highlighted the threats and challenges faced by scientists in identifying the purpose of the research, the audience type, and more importantly, eliminating personal biases. Lastly, we elaborated how social scientists deal with distrust. The communication challenges discussed in this video are also important to be aware of when communicating with different types of people in different contexts. The next video of this module, we'll focus on this directly.
