La salute e i mass media

Sin dalla fine dello scorso secolo, in seguito alla diffusione di alcune malattie a carattere prevalentemente infettivo, il problema della comunicazione pubblica sui temi della salute è emerso come centrale nell'ambito della cura e prevenzione della salute. Con lo sviluppo delle tecnologie per la comunicazione di massa e in seguito alle trasformazioni nei comportamenti e negli atteggiamenti verso la salute, questo problema ha assunto ulteriore importanza. La pluralità di comunicazioni e soggetti informativi presenti nei vari media e legati in modo piti o meno diretto alla salute è ormai tale da scoraggiare l'adozione di modelli comunicativi semplificati, di tipo lineare-unidirezionale, impiegati tradizionalmente per interpretare tale fenomeno

Can genetics help us rethink communication? Public communication of science as a 'double helix'

Public communication of science is still largely conceptualized within a 'transfer' paradigm that describes it as a displacement of results and ideas from the specialists to the lay public, problematizing the public, the media, (sometimes) science, but very rarely the notion of communication itself. This paper is a preliminary attempt to see if the discourse about genes and the genome can help us to problematize the concept of communication in relation to science, rethink our models of public communication of science and, more generally, the metaphors we employ to describe communication. It is suggested that the relationship between science and the public could be understood better by viewing communication through metaphors drawn from contemporary biology, e.g. as 'cross‐talk' between the specialist and public discourse or as a 'double helix' coupling the two dimensions under certain conditions

Entrevista // Piero Angela: "Hacer cultura en televisión no significa necesariamente retomar un espectáculo teatral"

Trabajar mucho, con honestidad y competencia son los pilares básicos sobre los que se asienta el éxito de los programas de divulgación científica que Piero Angela prepara para la RAI (Radio Televisione Italiana). El objetivo principal que persigue este divulgador es conseguir suscitar la curiosidad del público por los temas científicos

Research Evaluation as a Policy Design Tool: Mapping Approaches across a Set of Case Studies

This paper provides an overview of research evaluation practices across countries. The main aim is to investigate whether research assessment is implemented and to see to what extent its results are used to revise policy strategies, identify new research priorities, allocate financial resources or enhance public understanding of R&D. The paper addresses a set of cases studies, four within Europe (UK, Finland, Italy, and Spain) and two outside (US and Japan). Each case study provides an outline of the strategies devised to improve the domestic science system; offers a map of the main actors of science policy and introduces the main performers of research assessment. A short overview of how evaluation is approached at European level is also given. The study shows that approaches vary significantly from case to case and that it is not always possible to identify a clear research evaluation framework. In some cases, new strategies have been devised to improve the research system and the process of renovation has affected the structure and the role of research assessment. Overall, official documents across countries emphasise that research evaluation is not a means in itself, and call on its use as a policy design tool. However, very few cases of “management by results” can be identified. The success of research evaluation practice is always tied to strong cultural support and it is where research assessment meets with reluctance and mistrust that it yields no fruit. The absence of an “evaluative culture” is the main obstacle to an efficient research evaluation system.Research Evaluation Systems, Management by Results, Evaluative Culture, Research Policy, Policy Planning

Italians turn to family doctors for information on COVID-19 vaccines

Le discussioni sulla vaccinazione contro il COVID-19, e su come aumentare l'adesione alla campagna vaccinale, sono al centro del dibattito in diversi paesi, e i media dedicano un'attenzione significativa alle cosiddette posizioni “no-vax”. I nuovi dati sugli atteggiamenti verso la vaccinazione che abbiamo raccolto in Italia con l’Osservatorio Scienza Tecnologia e Società rivelano tendenze interessanti. I medici di base rivestono un ruolo chiave nell’orientare gli atteggiamenti verso la vaccinazione, mentre i social media giocano una piccola parte.Discussions about vaccination against COVID-19, and about how to increase vaccination rates, are dominating headlines in several countries, with significant attention devoted by the news media to so-called anti-vaccination positions. New data about attitudes towards vaccination against COVID-19 in Italy collected through the Science in Society Monitor reveal interesting trends. Survey shows key role of GPs in shaping attitudes towards vaccination, with social media playing a minor part

Indeterminazione, Serendipity, Random: tre “misure” dell’incertezza

Il volume è un omaggio a Luigi del Grosso Destreri. Esso comprende un suo saggio inedito sull’epistemologia delle scienze sociali che dalla formazione della “coscienza scientifica moderna” arriva fino alla sociologia sistemica e alla sua critica. L’idea di fondo – che collega questo saggio con i successivi - è che la conoscenza scientifica non deriva necessariamente dalla misurazione sempre più esatta dei fenomeni politici e sociali, ma può anche derivare «da osservazioni casuali che spingono la ricerca a indirizzarsi in nuove direzioni». Questa tensione verso un’epistemologia aperta viene ripresa da Alberto Brodesco che ripercorre la fortuna popolare della teoria dell’indeterminatezza scientifica di Heisenberg, mentre Massimiano Bucchi ricostruisce l’introduzione della categoria di serendipity da parte di Robert K. Merton. Pierangelo Schiera, infine, introduce l’approccio storiografico della random history, come approccio che dovrebbe tentare di dare conto del carattere non necessariamente ordinato dell’esperienza storica

Public communication by research institutes compared across countries and sciences: building capacity for engagement or competing for visibility?

Leading academic institutions, governments, and funders of research across the world have spent the last few decades fretting publicly about the need for scientists and research organisations to engage more widely with the public and be open about their research. While a global literature asserts that public communication has changed from a virtue to a duty for scientists in many countries and disciplines, our knowledge about what research institutions are doing and what factors drive their 'going public' is very limited. Here we present the first cross-national study of N = 2,030 research institutes within universities and large scientific organisations in Brazil, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Portugal, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America. We find that institutes embrace communication with non-peers and do so through a variety of public events and traditional news media-less so through new media channels-and we find variation across countries and sciences, yet these are less evident than we expected. Country and disciplinary cultures contribute to the level of this communication, as do the resources that institutes make available for the effort; institutes with professionalised staff show higher activity online. Future research should examine whether a real change in the organisational culture is happening or whether this activity and resource allocation is merely a means to increase institutional visibility