Audiences for Science Communication in the United States

ABSTRACT

The US National Science Foundation collects biennial data on views about science and technology (S&T). Analyses have typically focused on the degree to which demographics, knowledge, and attitudes predict S&T support or views about specific technologies or issues. Published efforts do not appear to have focused on identifying latent classes within the data. Initial analyses using latent profile analysis suggests that Americans can be categorized into six substantive audience groups when it comes to views about S&T. These groups vary by demographics, including scientific background and ideology, as well as in views about S&T. Post hoc analyses explore how “class-focused” analyses may provide additional insight beyond what can be obtained from “variable-focused” analyses.     

界遗产“突出的普遍价值”及其游客感知研究

成为世界遗产仅是遗产保护和价值阐释、传播的起点,但世界遗产“突出的普遍价值”(OUV)的评价问题一直存在着全球视野和本土意境下的阐释差异.文章以中国进入世界遗产名录和预备名录的三清山、九寨沟、江南水乡为例,阐释突出的普遍价值OtV(概念+十项评估标准+完整性和/或原真性+足够的保护和管理机制),提出了将国际语境与本土语境有机结合的OUV评价新标准.首先,OUV虽然是联合国教科文组织UNESCO在评选世界遗产时的主要依据,但在挣脱国家界限特别是要求当事国按照OUV的标准、惯例进行管理的过程中,存在价值丢失的问题.其次,虽然OUV是由UNESCO的专家委员会进行评价和比较分析得出(显然定性、无分值的),但通过强化量表设计过程的逻辑判断和理性对待信度和效度问题,OUV可以通过liket量表进行测量,结果显示OUV能够被公众理解和欣赏.再次,OUV的专家评价和公众评价既存在共性特征,亦存在差异特征(即价值丢失部分),并表现为不同的用途,遗产地的管理者如能将OUV的世界语境与本土化语境有机结合,能够避免价值丢失问题的出现.建议三清山在“奇峰怪石、峡谷幽云、植被生态、高空栈道”的OUV世界语境基础上,同样需要重视“道教名山”的本土化语境.建议江南水乡严格保护水乡古镇的外围水乡地域环境,它们对于理解江南水乡的OUV,特别是其完整性、原真性的必然要求都是不可或缺的.遗产地的管理者同样需要综合看待专家评价和公众评价.江南水乡案例生动的诠释,专家评价有其科学性和严肃性,“建构的原真性”、“后现代的原真性”,亦或是“存在的原真性”,它们永远不可能替代“客观的原真性”.考虑到OUV的阐释,公众评价同样有着重要的用途,特别是其社会教育意义、精神信仰和国家认同意义等.     

地铁十字换乘车站全尺寸实验研究:I.站厅火灾

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论环境的行政公益诉讼

中国尚未建立环境的行政公益诉讼,而传统诉讼制度的问题和缺陷日益显露,导致环境得不到很好地保护。根据环境法中关于环境权的理论、公众参与的原则以及公益诉讼的理论,中国应该尽快建立环境行政公益诉讼制度,赋予公众环境的行政公益诉讼资格,使作为公共利益的环境能得到切实的保护和改善。     

基于警源-压力-预警能力的城市公共危机预警研究

为提高城市公共危机系统预警能力,基于耶克斯-多德森(Yerkes-Dodson)定律构建该系统警源-压力-预警能力的概念模型,分析警源、压力、预警能力三者间的关系,进而提出警源-压力-预警能力的系统动力学(SD)模型,并利用Vensim PLE仿真软件进行案例模拟分析,最后结合仿真结果从系统内外2个维度探讨提高城市公共危机系统预警能力的应对策略。结果表明:警源和压力是城市公共危机系统预警能力的2个主要影响因素。建立健全相关法律体系和改善危机系统"周边环境",减小外部警源到达率;完善预警机制和加强防范管理,提高系统内部鲁棒性,能够提高城市公共危机系统预警能力。     

大学城公共安全评价体系初探

随着大学城建设的蓬勃开展,大学城公共安全已成为一项关乎国计民生又亟待深入研究的重要课题。阐述了公共安全评价的研究现状,同时,参照当前国际上成熟的公共安全评价框架,基于脆弱性(风险)与(减灾)能力两个维度,初步建立了大学城公共安全评价指标的内容体系。并以广州大学城为例,对公共安全评价流程和结果进行了初步的分析论证。结合具体的评价结果,针对大学城脆弱性风险防范和减灾能力建设提出了一些有效的建议,以供大学城公共安全规划建设和发展决策参考。     

What drives television weather coverage?

Weather forecasts meet the classic economic definition of a public good, since the content can be easily relayed to non-payers and the cost of sharing the forecast with an additional person is zero. Freeriding by consumers leads to the potential for an inefficiently small supply of public goods by the market. Yet television networks and stations provide a large quantity of weather coverage. This paper explores the investment by US television stations in weather coverage. Specifically, we examine whether greater investments are made in cities where weather is potentially more dangerous. We find strong evidence that tornado risk drives coverage and weaker evidence for floods and hurricanes, but discover that snowfall is unrelated to investment. In addition, stations in larger markets invest more in weather coverage, and we also find regional patterns in coverage.     

Selling displaced people? A multi‐method study of the public communication strategies of international refugee organisations

The world has seen a major increase in forced displacement since 2011. As a growing number of states implement restrictive refugee policies, public communication has become essential for refugee organisations. This study analysed, therefore, three international refugee organisations’ discursive strategies towards the recent Syrian crisis, as well as their production and the social context. A critical discourse analysis of international press releases (N=122) and six semi‐structured interviews with press and regional officers revealed that the observed actors largely dehumanise displaced people and subordinate them to the ‘Western self’ and state interests; displaced people hardly ever acquire their own voice. The study found that the medium characteristics of press releases and the importance of media attention result in a depersonalising humanitarian discourse. In addition, there were indications of a post‐humanitarian discourse that reproduced the humanitarian sector's ‘marketisation’. Finally, the examined organisations use the political realist cross‐issue persuasion strategy, displaying displaced people as resettlement objects.     

Formation of Social Acceptability Judgments and Their Implications for Management of Rare and Little-Known Species

Abstract:  Effective policies for management of rare and little-known species (RLKS) must be not only scientifically valid and cost-effective but also consistent with prevailing social beliefs and values. Limited public awareness of RLKS, however, constrains efforts to frame such policies. Lacking public support, resistance to RLKS programs is likely, particularly when other uses and values are affected. The challenge lies in understanding how public judgments are formed, sustained, and altered. Although the lack of public support often is attributed to inadequate understanding of the scientific bases for policies, research indicates that judgments derive from a complex, albeit poorly understood, suite of factors, including context, trust, esthetics, and personal history. Steps that can enhance public understanding of RLKS management include (1) clarifying the rationale and impacts of policies on the species, (2) specifying the contextual setting, (3) outlining specific actions to be taken, and (4) identifying when and where policies will be employed. Failure to foster understanding and support will leave management dominated by conflict and continued species loss.     

Using Wikipedia to measure public interest in biodiversity and conservation

The recent growth of online big data offers opportunities for rapid and inexpensive measurement of public interest. Conservation culturomics is an emerging research area that uses online data to study human–nature relationships for conservation. Methods for conservation culturomics, though promising, are still being developed and refined. We considered the potential of Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia, as a resource for conservation culturomics and outlined methods for using Wikipedia data in conservation. Wikipedia's large size, widespread use, underlying data structure, and open access to both its content and usage analytics make it well suited to conservation culturomics research. Limitations of Wikipedia data include the lack of location information associated with some metadata and limited information on the motivations of many users. Seven methodological steps to consider when using Wikipedia data in conservation include metadata selection, temporality, taxonomy, language representation, Wikipedia geography, physical and biological geography, and comparative metrics. Each of these methodological decisions can affect measures of online interest. As a case study, we explored these themes by analyzing 757 million Wikipedia page views associated with the Wikipedia pages for 10,099 species of birds across 251 Wikipedia language editions. We found that Wikipedia data have the potential to generate insight for conservation and are particularly useful for quantifying patterns of public interest at large scales.