Public Engagement Practitioners (PEP) Journal Club

This month's PEP Journal Club will be led by Anne-Marie Weijmans. 

The meeting will run between 12.30pm -1.30pm (GMT)* / 1.30pm -2.30PM (CET)**

*Please note that if you are calling in to the Club from countries that use Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) the session is from 12.30pm -1.30pm

**If you care calling in to the Club from countries that use Central European Time (CET) the session is from 1.30pm -2.30pm

Science communication continues to play an essential role at the interface between science and society. In turn, interest has grown in measuring, and understanding, science communication and its impact on research, practice, policy makers and wider society. This session is an exciting opportunity to discuss why the practice of raising awareness about science related topics is the key to research-informed policy making, and societal debates.

The paper we will be exploring in this meeting is: 

Assessing the Outputs, Outcomes, and Impacts of Science Communication: A Quantitative Content Analysis of 128 Science Communication Projects

Abstract

Few studies have explored how science communication projects are evaluated and what impact they have. This study aims to fill this gap by analysing the results of science communication projects carried out by academics. Drawing on the theory of change and evaluation models, possible results of science communication projects are conceptually distinguished at the levels of outputs, outcomes, and impacts. The study draws on a dataset of 128 science communication projects funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation from 2012 to 2022. Quantitative content analysis reveals few rigorous evaluation designs and a focus on reporting outputs, while outcomes and societal impacts are often neglected.

The PEP Journal Club is PEP JC is co-hosted by the Berlin School of Public Engagement and the Scottish Public Engagement Network (ScotPen)