Encountering Science in America


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The Public Face of Science

This report highlights the breadth of opportunities for people to encounter science, from participating in research to reading science news, while providing an overview of the nuances and complexities that inform the practice of effective science communication and engagement. An understanding of who participates in science communication and engagement, their motivations for participating, and approaches for measuring outcomes should be integrated into the design of communication and outreach efforts. A growing awareness of established resources and academic literature on these activities would increase the potential for impact and reduce efforts that attempt to reinvent the wheel. 

Comprehensive frameworks are being used to understand how people’s attitudes, media consumption, and encounters with science inform their attitudes and behavior toward science. Expanded evaluation, data-sharing, and social science research are necessary to understand fully the collective impact of science communication and engagement efforts. Moreover, the significant changes in the way people access information and entertainment since the start of the twenty-first century, such as the increasingly global nature of information-sharing, must be considered as part of any research effort.