Communication in Science

Understanding science is important. Not just for engineers and doctors, but for all of us. Knowledge and scientific literacy can give us the knowledge and support to make decisions, stay healthy, remain productive and become successful. There's a chain of communication and transmission that takes scientific discovery from the lab to our everyday lives. Scientists publish articles in academic journals. Exciting or important discoveries make the news and may even be incorporated into law.

Communication in Science: Definition

Let's start with the definition of communication in science.

Communication puts scientists' discoveries out into the world. Good science communication allows the public to understand the discovery and can have many positive effects, such as:

• Improving scientific practice by providing new information to make methods safer or more ethical

• Promoting thought by encouraging debate and controversy

• Education by teaching about new scientific discoveries

• Fame, income and career enhancement by encouraging groundbreaking discoveries

Principles of Scientific Communication

Good scientific communication should be:

• Clear

• Accurate

• Simple

• Understandable

Types of Scientific Communication

Scientists use two types of communication to showcase their work to the world and other fellow scientists. These encompass - inward-facing and outward-facing.

Inward-facing communication is any form of communication that takes place between an expert and an expert in their chosen fields. With scientific communication, this would be between scientists from similar or different scientific backgrounds.

In contrast, outward-facing communication is directed toward the rest of society. This type of scientific communication is typically when a professional scientist communicates information to a non-expert audience.

Whatever communication type, it is essential to tailor the communication style to the audience and their level of understanding and experience. For example, scientific jargon is appropriate for inward-facing communication but unlikely to be understood by non-scientists. Overuse of complicated technical terms may distance scientists from the public.

Examples of Communication in Science

When scientists make a discovery, they need to write up their results. These results are written in the form of scientific articles, which detail their experimental methods, data and results. Next, scientists aim to publish their articles in an academic journal. There are journals for every subject, from medicine to astrophysics.

Authors must adhere to the journal's guidelines regarding length, format and referencing. The article will also be subject to peer review.

Figure 1 - There are an estimated 30,000 scientific journals worldwide, publishing nearly 2 million articles per year, unsplash.com

Thousands of articles are published annually, so only those considered groundbreaking or important will reach other forms of media. The article's information or critical messages will be shared in newspapers, television, textbooks, scientific posters, and online via blog posts, videos, podcasts, social media, etc.

Skills Needed for Science Communication

During your GCSEs, you'll be doing some scientific communication yourself. There are a few useful skills to learn that will help you out.

Presenting Data Appropriately

Not all data can be shown in the same way. Suppose you wanted to show how temperature affects the rate of a reaction. What type of graph is more suitable - a scatter plot or a pie chart?

Figure 2 - Using an appropriate chart can make your results visually appealing and easier to understand, unsplash.com

To create graphs, you need to be able to convert numbers into different formats.

Statistical Analysis

Good scientists know how to analyse their data.

A Graph Slope

You may need to calculate the slope of a straight line graph. To do this, pick two points along the line and note their coordinates. Calculate the difference between the x-coordinates and the y-coordinates.

Once you've worked out the differences, divide the difference in height (y-axis) by distance (x-axis) to find out the angle of the slope.

Significant Figures

Maths-based questions will often ask for an appropriate number of significant figures. Significant figures are the first important digits after zero.

Mean and Range

The mean is the average of a set of numbers. It is calculated by taking the sum and then dividing that by how many numbers there are.

The range is the difference between the smallest and largest numbers in the set.

Using Data to Make Predictions and Hypotheses

You can also use data to make a hypothesis.

Your hypothesis for the plant growth could be:

"As the plant gets older, it gets taller. This is because the plant has time to photosynthesise and grow."

Sometimes, you are given two or three hypotheses. It's up to you to figure out which one best explains the data.

Evaluating Your Experiment

Good scientists always evaluate their work to perform a better experiment next time:

• Your data should be accurate and precise.

• If an experiment is repeatable, you could do it again and achieve the same results.

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