Last Orders for the Deficit Model: Science Communication with Dr James Dolan

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Scientists often have strong intuitions about science communication, what's good or bad, what works and what doesn't. Social scientists who study science communication, however, have decades of evidence directly relevant to these questions. But scientists are not always aware of this evidence and therefore run the risk of communicating based on seemingly reasonable assumptions, particularly about the relationship between knowledge of science and attitudes towards science, which can turn out to be faulty, therefore wasting time, effort, and perhaps even credibility. In this talk, we'll explore the single biggest assumption which scientists often make—that to know science is to love it—and see how the evidence stacks up for and against this "deficit model". And we will explore the consequences of the evidence for good or bad, more or less effective, science communication, not only as scientists and science communicators but also as intelligent consumers of science communication.

Dr James Dolan is a Fellow in Physics at King's College and Affiliated Lecturer in the Department of Materials Science & Metallurgy. An engineer, physicist, and occasional science communicator, when he isn’t teaching James researches how scientists have used improvised comedy as a form of science communication.