- Review of Science Journalism
- Review of Readings
- Science Journalism Activity
- Friday = Online Class
- Science communication: explaining the science
- Science popularization: making science popular, promoting science
- Science journalism: critically assessing science and its claim
- Your role: ALL THREE
Knowing Your Audience and the PLoS Blogs:
- Choose one of the blog posts at PLoS that you read for homework:
- Think about the blogger’s writing style, which is most related: Science communication: explaining the science, Science popularization: making science popular, promoting science, or Science journalism: critically assessing science and its claim
- Who do you think is the intended audience? How does the blogger convey her/his information
- In groups of 5-6, answer these questions in a comment on today’s lecture post (Lecture 5) on the class blog.
Perspective:
Activity on Perspective:
nclose
to a single person, e.g. a patient or a victim;
n
nhigh
above a scene, reporting from a distance, independent and little involved;
n
nclose
to an organisation that offers information, such as an NGO or a company;
n
nclose
to the scientific community;
n
nclose
to the audience, examining problems in their daily life
Activity on Perspective:
- Choose one article/blog post from Scientopia (http://scientopia.org/blogs/ ) & one from Not Exactly Rocket Science (http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/notrocketscience/)
- Compare the writing perspectives: what view does each blogger take? Does their view hamper the “objectivity” of the story? How or why?
- Send your responses to @JessL
Final Thought
“Some journalists are still stuck in the model: We give you journalism, that’s the way it is. In this world, where we don’t know if there’s going to be a pandemic, or where the next terrorist attack will be, or how bad global warming is going to be, if I’m not engaged in a two-way street with scientifically engaged readers, I’m not responsible.”
Friday's Online Class - By the end of class students must:
- Complete the social media survey on the Module 2 blog post
- Set up a blog using Blogger and write an introductory post about you and your field of study and what role communication plays in your work (dissemination of results, linking with fellow researchers, etc.…)
- In a comment on the Module 2 blog post, leave a link to your newly started blog (absolutely necessary so the professor and TAs can grade your work)
- Note: you require a personal blog for your E-Portfolio.
Sabrina Fallon and Michelle Letourneau
ReplyDeleteWe read http://blogs.plos.org/bodypolitic/2011/01/21/how-many-omega-3s-does-your-dinner-have/ and believe that the blogger's writing style is science popularization. The intended audience would appear to be anyone interested in living a healthy lifestyle, those interested in fatty acid intake, pregnant women, casual magazine readers (based on magazines she has written for). The way she presents her information is casual, relaxed, and easy for the everyday reader to relate to.
We read the article from "Body Politic" "How many omega-3s does your dinner have?" by Melinda Wenner Moyer. We all agreed that her writing style was science communication directed towards pregnant women who are nutrition conscious. Vlatko Slocuk, Jasmeena Gill, Natashya Rogers.
ReplyDeleteWe have read the blog post by Daniel Lende about Neuroscience and anthropology, its similarities and differences and how he converges the two in his work. His intended audience are people who are interested in neuroscience and anthropology and anything inbetween! He conveys his information through blog posts, Twitter and sharing links associated with these topics. He keeps his blog and other posts easy to understand and helps to popularize his topic through these mediums.
ReplyDeleteWe decided that Science Journalism is most likely our chosen bloggers writing style because it was more intended for a general reading audience, and attempts to change their perspective on "green" products. This article's intended audience is anyone who uses cleaning products (the average person) to inform them of the damage they could actually be causing by using "all natural" and "green" products. This blogger chooses to convey her message by using facts, statistics, and research that had been done on the subject.
ReplyDeleteDana Zalys, Angela Komarnicki, Ian McNeill, Jennifer Kuta, Angelina Smith, Long Tran
ReplyDeleteWe did the article, "Back to the Future" which mainly focuses on promoting science. The intended audience is probably aspiring scientists or young people unsure of what career path to follow. The blogger conveys their writing through playful thoughts and informal language.
How many omega-3s does your dinner have
ReplyDeleteMelinda Wenner Moyer
Melinda writes in the style of journalism,
and popularization. She includes references to her claims, validating them. Her writing style is very casual catching the attention of her readers - pregnant women primarily, as well as those who are interested in their diets. She conveys her information with facts in a very simple to understand way.
http://blogs.plos.org/bodypolitic/2011/01/21/how-many-omega-3s-does-your-dinner-have/
PLoS blog - Genes in Hep C treatment predicting trauma recovery; African doctoral programs and more.
ReplyDeleteThe blogger conveys their ideas to an audience with a basic biology background. The writing style is most related to science communication due to the fact that they are generalizing and stating facts about the article rather than promoting or critically assessing. More scientific terminology is used therefore the article is directed to a more specific audience.
PLOS Blog:
ReplyDeletehttp://blogs.plos.org/obesitypanacea/
We believe that the audience for this particular blog is the general public. This is just because the wording of the blog is pretty simple and doesn't contain a lot of scientific terms.
For the most part, he seems to use statistical data (i.e. BMI/ waist circumference) to help support his writings.
-Samantha Chambers
-Duo Zhi
-Farzana Arbabzada
-Karly Mah
The intended audience is both the medical community and the general public. The information is conveyed in a science journalism style.
ReplyDeleteJennifer Hay, Bailey Smith
ReplyDeleteWe read DIsgusting by Shara Yuriewicz. The blogger's writing style was science popularization, because it didn't focus on facts but casually assessed their environment with science highlights. The intended audience is the general population, because it was easy to understand and read. The blogger conveyed her information through a personal story, explaining her experiences in a colloquial fashion. She evaluated her personal biases and how she assesses situations.
On PLoS we read the article Tooth & Claw. It had a very relaxed writing style and drew the reader in with multiple questions in the beginning. We believe the intended audience is the general population. Hence, we thought it was a split between science communication and science popularization.
ReplyDeletehttp://blogs.plos.org/bodypolitic/2010/09/09/could-dieting-pollute-us/
ReplyDeleteCould Dieting Pollute us?
This bloggers writing style is most related to Science Journalism, because they used critical analysis of independent studies and their findings. Their audience is the general public as the topic can apply to anybody and it is quite broad. The information is conveyed by citing published works as well as giving suggestions as to how to improve future studies on the subject.
http://blogs.plos.org/speakeasyscience/2011/08/25/of-dead-bodies-and-dirty-streets/
ReplyDeleteThis article is an example of science journalism as it is describing a situation of lead poisoning in an era where lead additives were commonly added to gasoline in the United States. She claims that scientists blatantly ignored repeated evidence of lead poisoning. Too bad they did not have science journalism to enlighten the public back then! This blog entry is directed at the public who are interested in poisonings, mainly lead poisoning.
As a group we read the article The (unsurprising) Truth About Toning Shoes we found this article to be a mixture of Science communication and science journalism as it had the makings of a research article with claims set out and supported with graphs and other scientific evidence but was written in a conversational manner.
ReplyDeleteBlog: http://blogs.plos.org/speakingofmedicine/2011/09/12/failed-vaccine-campaigns-are-a-global-issue/
ReplyDeleteThe blogger's writing style is Science Journalism/Science popularization with the intriguing idea of conspiracy. The intended audience seems to be targeted towards those who have an interest in international affairs. The blogger conveys the information through layman's terms, facts embedded in the article, and intertwining health, politiics, and a conspiracy theory to help draw interest to the article.
Group members: Nancy Chau, Dawoon Jung, Laura Adam, Kylie Mclean, Filmon Tzeggai, and Jascha Handel
Neuroanthropology PLoS Blog:
ReplyDeleteThe two men writing this are mostly accomplishing science popularization because their writing style is fun and in between talking about articles they sneak in links to paper airplane designs. They are also being mildly critical of the articles they're presenting but mostly it seems that their friendly and open writing style feels like a conversation or an email. The intended audience seems to be most everyone with an interest in anthropology since his writing style and the writing style of the people's blogs he links too are in fairly lay-mans terms.
Group members:
Hilary Whiting
Gregory Glenn
owen clarke
Coleman Brinker
http://blogs.plos.org/bodypolitic/2011/01/21/how-many-omega-3s-does-your-dinner-have/
ReplyDeleteThe blogger demonstrates all 3 roles of science journalism. The writing style is in first person and informal which makes it easier to understand for a lay audience.
"For Given BMI, Canadians Now Carry More Fat Than in 1980′s" is an article written for those interested in that topic. It is written in a professional style, making people aware of the topic at hand.
ReplyDeleteThis article is written in a style of sceince communication form, as he explains the science rather than assessing it. The authour provides evidence to help his description of his topic.
Done by Toni Carlson and Caylee Gaylard
For Given BMI, Canadians Now Carry More Fat Than in 1980′s
ReplyDeleteBy Travis Saunders, MSc, CEP
The blogger's writing style is most related to science communication as he is explaining how the human body carries fat and how a person can have increase fat content than in previous years.
The Blogger is writing with the general public in mind considering the simple terms and generalied information.
Erin Van Herk
Lindsay Wilderman
Jocelyn Shulhan
"For Given BMI, Canadians Now Carry More Fat Than in 1980′s"
ReplyDeleteThis blog post related to Science Communication as it is explaining a published study in a relatable way. The intended audience is the average person, as the writing style is very casual with peer research included.
Speakeasy Science is primarily science journalism. She presents scientific articles in a critical way, examining their claims, and pointing out flaws. The blog is written in a casual way, suggesting it is intended for a wider audience than just the scientific community.
ReplyDeleteWe chose the "How many omega-3s does your dinner have?" article. The intended audience is the general public who are searching for basic information about omega-3 sources other than fish. This article is related to science communication since the blogger talks about the relationship between omega-3 and heart diseases and also fetal brain development. She provides specific information about omega-3 amounts in specific sources.
ReplyDeleteAvishta, Arisha, Laura, Sarah, Jamaica
Our group read the article, The Panic Virus, by Seth Mnookin. This article discusses the political campaign of Michelle Bachmann and her position against vaccines in Texas.
ReplyDeleteWe believe that this article is mostly a science popularization article. It is more so making the reader aware rather than explaining science or politics of the issue.
The blogger conveys their information by stating what Bachmann did to common sense and scientific fact. Our group agreed that this blogger seemed to write this article with a very sarcastic tone. It is clear that the blogger does not agree with Bachmann political stance on vaccines.
The targeted audience is the general public, as well as possible future voters in this upcoming election.
We chose the article, "Does this mean cancer patients should be sueing cows?" http://blogs.plos.org/thepanicvirus/2011/09/08/so-does-that-mean-cancer-patients-should-be-suing-cows/ this is a form of science journalism, intended for people who are interested in this subject. This blogger communicates by making claims and using links and excerpts from medical journals to back them up.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading "Will Bachmann’s anti-vaccine pandering fall flat? The changing political landscape for proponents of pediatric and public health" our group has come to the consensus that this blogger is using both Science Communication and Science Popularization. The writter is both explaining the science behind the vaccination reactions and making anti-vaccines supporters more well known. The audience is pro-vaccine supporters. His goal is to educate anti-vaccine supporters. The author is conveying his information using a combination of science and comedy to keep the readers interested.
ReplyDeleteWe read "Bats Broaden Sonar Field of View to Maneuver around Obstacles". The writing style was was casual at the beginning, and related to every day life. We believe the article was a mix between science communication and popularization, because it explained the science in terms the general public would understand and be interested in.
ReplyDeletehttp://blogs.plos.org/bodypolitic/tag/aspartame/
ReplyDeleteMelinda Wenner Moyer wrote an article about the increased intake of sugars over the past 30 years. Her writing style was in a sense a mixture of science communication, science popularization and science journalism. She was clearly explaining the science behind her article, and she was popularizing the science by writing in a very animated style and using humour. She uses critical assessment of the science in many places in her article. Specifically, she comments on the dates of sugar intake studies (1971-1975, and 1988-1994) and that they may be out of date, but still useful.
The intended audience was primarily people interested in health issues (which were inherent in her topic) but also the general public. She wrote it in a style that was pretty easy for anyone to understand. Her humorous style made the article interesting, and captivated an audience, even if you were not very interested in people's sugar intake over time.
Kaitlyn Jonk, Kira Macmillan,Xi Chen, Minghua Yu,Ziyu Shi
ReplyDeleteWe read http://blogs.plos.org/thismayhurtabit/ - discusting and we believe that Shara Yurkiewicz writing style in this particular article is a mixture of science communication and science popularization. She taks about this progressive neurodegenerative disease through her personal experiance nad she writes in in a way that empthasises with the reader and everyday evperiances. The target audience is the average joe.
We read the article on life, anthropology and love for lecture 4. The blogger's target audience were people within the science community. She wrote in a style that both communicated science, but also with the intention of making it popular and known to others who are interested. She wrote in the form of short stories explaining personal experiences - a more interesting and fun way to write about science and engage interest from an audience.
ReplyDeleteLisa L, Rebecca F, Karissa F
We chose the blog "for Gicen BMI, Canadians now carry more fat than in 1980's" by Travis Saunders. His blog was very casual and was more science communication, he explained the science clearly for a general audience.
ReplyDeleteWe chose the blog called "Disgusting". This blog is definitely a science popularization article for the general public because it is set up as an easy-to-read story that doesn't involve big confusing science words. Unlike science communication, it uses first person narrative and a subjective point of view, including the author's personal thoughts and views of the hospital.
ReplyDeleteMark Storey, Wilson Leung, Amy White
After analyzing Seth Mnookin's "So does that mean cancer patients should be suing cows?" Article, our group found that his critical terms and structure shows that his possible audience is his peers. He uses jargon that would make it somewhat difficult for the average reader to comprehend. He uses data from other studies to support his claim and argument. He uses the perspective of an observer, as if he's above the scene and reporting from a distance. (Cam Parsons, Mallory Cook, Kalin Herbach, Cori Wyatt)
ReplyDeleteWe read 'Neuroscience for Everyone!', which was written as a form of science communication because it explains the science behind 'biohackers', or science enthusiasts who like to experiment with genes, brains and bodies. The intended audience would be the general public, specifically people with a curiosity about genetics. The blogger conveys information by introducing 'biohackers', explaining their work (through a helpful video) and telling the reader how they can experiment at home.
ReplyDeleteWe read the Et Tu, Science Magazine blog post from Speakeasy Science by Deborah Blum. We feel that this blog is addressed for the general public, since, her writing style is scientific but takes on a casual tone. It seems that the purpose of the blog article was to both communicate and popularize the science article being discussed.
ReplyDeleteGroup: Susan Gegolick and Emily Shand
ReplyDeletehttp://blogs.plos.org/obesitypanacea/2011/09/09/the-unsurprising-truth-about-toning-shoes/#more-2303
We read an article under the blog Obesity Panacea about Reebok's new Easy Tone shoe, which claims to work better than regular runners to shape glutes, calves and hamstrings. The writer of this blog intended it for consumers, urging them to think twice before falling for the false claims advertized by Reebok's ad. His point was demonstrated and back up by scientific data that was displayed in a way everyday consumers could understand. His argument was solid and believable.
We found that the website catered to a diverse audience. Especially the article including obesity, we found that the issue seems to lie globally therefor the author of the article tried to attract a vast number of different people. The author's writing style was still educating but not limited to just the science community. Having ordinary people, not only logical scientists, can read the article and still grasp the basic concept of what it is tryng to convey.
ReplyDeleteAngele, Ying Fu, Julianna Damer, Xiaoming jia, Yuan Shi, Aimee, Zijian Huang
The evolution solution
ReplyDeleteby hillary rosner
THe article is written in a first person perspective and writer explains her experiences during a past conference she has attended. Her objective is science journalism as she assesses research from the conference and gives her perspective on it. The intended audience is clearly for those concerned with environmental evolution as little background on the topic is given.
We read "Neuroscience for Everyone" by Emily Anthes. We found that her writing style is most like science popularization because she is trying to popularize neuroscience to the younger generations in hopes of getting them more involved in the field. Her intended audience is those who have yet to decide their field of study. Her writing style is semi-formal but still approachable and not too confusing as to allow for a wide range of audiences.
ReplyDeleteWe have just read {how many omega-3s does your dinner have-Melinda Wenner Moyer}. The audiences for this article is probably women who pregnant as they need more nutrients. The article explains the nutrition value of omega-3s which is really healthy to be included in the meal, as reflected to science aspects. Also, it is belonged to science communication and it provides information for people who are interested to know the benefit of omega-3s.
ReplyDeletehttp://blogs.plos.org/neuroanthropology/2011/08/06/mindfulness-and-stress/
ReplyDeleteI read this article about stress and mindfulness. After examining it i came to the conclusion that the author is using science communication and science journalism. The author explains the science behind stress and how we cope with it. Also he explains how mindfulness is the answer to rid of stress and allow our mental capacity to reach its potential. I think the author is targeting every person out there who experiences stress.
Linda Phan
We chose speakeasy science. We discussed the two latest articles "Et Tu, Science Magazine?" and "Of Dead Bodies and Dirty Streets". Et Tu, Science Magazine? seems to be more of a science journalism, due to the fact that the author is picking apart the magazine, when it comes to the statement chemical free. The Author says that in Today's world we associate something that is chemical free as being toxic free, and something can never be chemical free. The second article Of Dead Bodies and Dirty Streets discusses the workers of an oil refinery were exposed to tetraethyl lead, which lead to 49 of them being sick and eventually 5 dying due to the lead poisoning. This lead compound was banned in Europe, but the US corporation was in a rush to get the job done, and they did not carry out the proper safety precautions. It seems this is a science journalism, because it is almost laying the blame on improper scientific analysis.
ReplyDeleteThe blog we have read from PLoS is “For Given BMI, Canadians Now Carry More Fat Than in 1980′s”, we believe the blogger’s writing style is science communication, since the writer try to compare the scientific data between different years and make some explanations for it. Also, by answering several questions, he attempted to explain and clarify some concepts in the view of normal people. So, it is obvious that the intended audience is the public, people who care about their health or people want to learn something from these data.
ReplyDeletehttp://blogs.plos.org/obesitypanacea/
ReplyDeleteThis article was very interesting and even though we are not PhD students in Exercise Physiology or completed our BSc (Hon) in Kinesiology we are able to understand this article and that then in part pulls us in to continue reading more! We think this involves all 3 writing styles as the authors are critically assesing obesity and its major causes via activity studies. Also it falls under science popularization as it is a problem in todays society and must be addressed and so the popularization of it and the more aware the public becomes the better, this ultimately the goal of these 2 writers. And lastly science communication as a writing style as they were able to explain what they are doing in terms easy to understand for every reader. The intended audience for this blog would be the general public in which of concern. They did quote "we share their passion for making science as accessible as possible to the public as possible." Which shows that there aim in there studies and publications is at people not just in the science/ medical world but also at the people obesity affects in there every day lives! Very interesting article and website!
Lab D4
ReplyDeleteI chose to read the article, Neuroscience for Everyone! I feel that the blogger’s writing style is leaning more towards science popularization. The author writes about a DIY movement: a do-it-yourself biotech created by Greg Gage and Tim Marzulo. The article describes that this modern technology is low-cost allowing students and amateur neuroscientists to purchase. It is evident that the author is trying to popularize neuroscience, but especially to people that would be egger to use this more ready available equipment such as young scientists, undergraduates, college students, one anyone who is interested in neuroscience to promote further explorations. The blogger conveys her information by speaking a language that youth can easily relate to, in other words, the language does not seem scholarly. It sounds like language used in our everyday speech, even with some humor (we can call it street talk!) allowing an easier read and understand about the science field and the technology.
I read "How many omega-3s does your dinner have?" and think that the author's writing style is most related to science popularization as the blog is trying to promote the science behind excellent sources of omega-3s other than the commonly known ones. Individuals who pay close attention to their diets and healthy lifestyles would find this blog interesting and useful.
ReplyDeleteLida Petriw
In the Carl Zimmer at Science Online 2010 video Carl Zimmer explained how blogs don’t have the restrictions that newspapers don’t have, which allows us to communicate about so much more that we previously could not. For example, Carl wrote a blog post about duck genitals, their reproductive system and natural selection, along with a video about it. Blogs have allowed for science journalism to flourish, thus providing everyone with more access to scientific knowledge. The New Science Journalism is an excellent example of this. It can be used for learning topics that simply interest someone or for them to gain further knowledge in their field of study. Science journalism “critically assess[es] science and its claim,” and there are various perspectives that it can be written in. This allows for the writer to control how the topic will be perceived by the reader.
ReplyDeleteI was just rereading over the lectures we've done because this weekend I am working on my science article assignment. I am doing the open access assignment and the significance of OAM. I thought this lecture plays an important role in my assignment because it's talking about how science articles are communicated to others, (who the audience is) and how we analyse/ assess an article.
ReplyDelete