While many politicians have experienced declining levels of public trust during the pandemic, faith in science has generally held up well. However, as Christina Boswell argues, there are a number of reasons why social sciences may struggle to achieve s…
Category: Public Engagement
An alternative approach to measuring community engagement in higher education
Universities across the globe are increasingly being called on to contribute to their surrounding communities and regions, especially so as they are mobilised in response to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Reflecting on these emerging demands with…
Are we all social scientists now? The rise of citizen social science raises more questions about social science than it answers.
Citizen social science, whereby members of the public participate in the investigation and analysis of social phenomena, is becoming an increasingly common research method, especially to address localised social issues. In this post, Alexandra Albert¸ …
The epistemological chaos of platform capitalism and the future of the social sciences
Networked digital platforms have destabilised and reconfigured long-established forms of knowledge production and communication, changing the ways in which we consume media and engage with the public sphere and expert knowledge. In this extract from th…
Why don’t you publish your research here?
Justin Gest author of Mass Appeal: Communicating Policy Ideas in Multiple Media asks why not publish your research outside of academic outlets? And, suggests academic institutions need to engage more creatively with an increasingly diverse range of mul…
Blocked and thwarted – Public engagement professionals in higher education deserve greater recognition.
Professional service staff specialising in public engagement in higher education institutions often occupy precarious and poorly defined positions. Drawing on a largescale qualitative study of public engagement professionals (PEPs), Richard Watermeyer …
Communicating statistics through the media in the time of COVID-19
Professor Kevin McConway and Professor Sir David Spiegelhalter discuss their experiences of communicating statistical research to the media and offer 12 tips for researchers to effectively engage with the media. The coronavirus pandemic has brought an unprecedented demand from the media for statistical commentary. Whereas a trip to a studio for a radio or TV interview was … Continued
Researchers are expected to share their research beyond academia but they need support from universities to do so
Sharing research beyond academia is not only rewarding and enriching, but increasingly can help achieve funding. However, early career researchers lack the time, skills and media savvy to do so. Margaret Merga and Shannon Mason outline the experiences of early career researchers in Australia and Japan. The authors urge institutions to look beyond traditional scholarly … Continued
Researcher Activism – Reflections on a career
As recent events, such as the Black Lives Matter protests, have demonstrated academic research and researchers often play important roles in activist movements. Drawing on her own experience as a researcher activist, Dorothy Broom consider how to engage effectively with the different identities and responsibilities engendered by researcher activism and presents six starting points for a wider … Continued
“Success is not measured in how inspired we are” – Reassessing artist-academic collaborations under neoliberalism
Funding bodies and universities prize collaboration with non-academic partners. But do they create the conditions for equitable relationships? Sara de Jong and Alena Pfoser argue that however inspiring and innovative artist-academic collaborations can be, it is necessary to critically interrogate the conditions under which such collaborations take place. Highlighting the effects of, different remuneration structures, … Continued