Continuing on the theme of communicating to journalists and the public (brought up by David and Megan), I thought it might be useful to bring up some insights from a talk I attended yesterday. Nancy Baron, author of Escape from the Ivory Tower, and director of science outreach at COMPASS, is a zoologist and writer who coaches scientists on the merits and how to of communicating their research.
We tend to get fixated on the disasters that sometimes occur when science gets haphazardly, awkwardly or incorrectly conveyed to the public, so it was slightly refreshing to hear Nancy talk about some success stories. However, the story that really struck me (somewhat selfishly) tied into the very first point she made during her talk. She began by making the bold claim that practicing communication of science actually improves our own science.
She made the comment initially and I kind of assumed it was one of those things you might say to further motivate scientists. I mean, come on, she has an agenda too. Something akin to “eat your peas because they are actually good for you.” But she shared a story later in her talk about being in a bus for 8 hours with a group of scientists and forcing them each to write a message box (a way in which to condense your scientific message to make it understandable by others). She then had them switch seats periodically to get everyone to explain their box to the others. The result? New insights, clarifications and switching of individual agendas.
Why did this happen? Scientists speaking the language of science often get stuck on the details, especially if they’re relating them to colleagues in their own fields. Forcing investigators to zoom out and analyze what they see as the most important part of their work enables a different kind of discussion. The kind that may not be useful in identifying the incorrect use of a statistical test, but instead an incorrect focus or the clarification of a goal or even formation of a new direction for the research to take.
Maybe another reason for taking the plunge?