• Title/Summary/Keyword: Public Understanding of Science

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Two Approaches to Public Understanding of Science: How Survey Analyses and Constructivist PUS Might Benefit Each Other (공중의 과학이해 연구의 두 흐름 - 조사연구와 구성주의 PUS의 상보적 발전을 향하여)

  • Bak Hee-Je
    • Journal of Science and Technology Studies
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    • v.2 no.2 s.4
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    • pp.25-54
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    • 2002
  • Without much communication, large-scale surveys of public knowledge of, and attitudes to, science (quantitative PUS) and case-study analyses of the public's understandings of science in particular (constructivist PUS) have dominated in the public understanding of science (PUS) area. Not only methodological preference but also a strong antipathy against value-orientations that each approach presumed to have and support has been barriers for quantitative PUS and constructivist PUS to benefit each other. In order to overcome such barriers, this paper demonstrates that value orientations guiding quantitative PUS have been much more diverse than what constructivist PUS researchers might think, and that quantitative PUS has indeed yielded the results consistent with and complementary to constructivist PUS. Finally this paper proposes that (1)quantitative PUS should test propositions provided by constructivist PUS, so that it can contribute much to the construction of more generalizable PUS theories and policies, and (2)constructivist PUS uses the outcome of quantitative PUS to develop more complex case studies which consider heterogeneous publics, trends of public evaluations of science, and how public attitudes to science in the abstract and public attitudes to science in particular in a specific context have effect on each other.

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Investigations on Public Perception of Science Articles in the Mass Media and Understanding of Scientific Terms Used in High Frequency in Science Articles (대중매체의 과학기사에 대한 대중들의 인식과 고빈도로 사용되는 과학용어에 대한 이해도 조사)

  • Yun, Eunjeong;Park, Yunebae
    • Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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    • v.39 no.4
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    • pp.535-544
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    • 2019
  • In order to find out whether the traditional mass media in our society are sufficiently functioning as a vehicle of providing scientific information to the public outside the school education, public perception of science articles in mass media and scientific terms used in high frequency in science articles have been examined. To investigate the public perception on science articles, a questionnaire was constructed about the usefulness, importance, access frequency, and understanding of science articles. The questionnaires were conducted in areas with high flow populations such as train stations or subway stations. A total of 425 responses were used for analysis. In order to extract high frequency scientific terms used in science articles, two television companies and two newspapers were designated as target media, and their texts on science articles reported over the last 17 years were collected to investigate the frequency of scientific terms used. Based on the frequency, we conducted the self-report comprehension test for the top 100 scientific terms. The results of this study show that the public in our society has relatively high perception of the importance and usefulness of science articles, however, reading and understanding the articles seems to be somewhat difficult. In addition, the scientific terminology used in science articles has a high degree of comprehension for those of higher education, natural sciences majors, and men. In addition, scientific terms with high understanding degree were characterized according to gender, age, educational background, and field of major.

Science Communication as a Practice of Science Culture (과학커뮤니케이션: 과학문화의 실행(Practice))

  • Cho, Sook-Kyoung
    • Journal of Science and Technology Studies
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    • v.7 no.1
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    • pp.151-175
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    • 2007
  • What are the differences between science communication and science culture? This paper discusses the relationship between 'science communication' and 'science culture', with a consideration of recent activities and endeavours aiming public's understanding of science. For this, it starts with the outcomes and significance of the 9th International Conference on Public Communication of Science and Technology(PCST-9), with a theme of "Scientific Culture for Global Citizenship", held in Seoul May, 2006. Then, it discusses 'Public Understanding of Science(PUS)' to which the PCST network movement is linked, in comparison with 'Popularization of Science(PS)' and 'Science and Society(S&S)'. While PS was one directional movement conveying scientific knowledge to the public, PUS appeared from 1980s was an intentional effort for activating science communication through mass media. Whereas, a recent S&S movement emphasizes dialogue between science and society. And it then introduces theoretical as well as functional definitions of 'science culture' particulary in Korean and explains how the concept of science communication has considerably expanded since 2002. From this, it is finally argued that science communication needs be redefined as a practice of science culture.

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One Health Perspectives on Emerging Public Health Threats

  • Ryu, Sukhyun;Kim, Bryan Inho;Lim, Jun-Sik;Tan, Cheng Siang;Chun, Byung Chul
    • Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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    • v.50 no.6
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    • pp.411-414
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    • 2017
  • Antimicrobial resistance and emerging infectious diseases, including avian influenza, Ebola virus disease, and Zika virus disease have significantly affected humankind in recent years. In the premodern era, no distinction was made between animal and human medicine. However, as medical science developed, the gap between human and animal science grew deeper. Cooperation among human, animal, and environmental sciences to combat emerging public health threats has become an important issue under the One Health Initiative. Herein, we presented the history of One Health, reviewed current public health threats, and suggested opportunities for the field of public health through better understanding of the One Health paradigm.

`I Only Hate Broccoli' : The Library as Place in 21st Century America

  • Wiegand, Wayne A.
    • Journal of the Korean Society for Library and Information Science
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    • v.44 no.4
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    • pp.61-74
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    • 2010
  • By taking a bottom-up "library in the life of the user" perspective rather than a top-down "user in the life of the library" perspective, this paper uses anecdotal evidence from the past and near present to examine the multiple roles the U.S. public library plays and has played as public space in the everyday lives of its patrons. By harnessing "public sphere" theory discussed in Jurgen Habermas's THE STRUCTURAL TRANSFORMATION OF THE PUBLIC SPHERE (1989) and by the examining the rich literatures on civic life and institutions that have evolved from it, the author argues that Library and Information Studies discourse has to expand its scope to include research and analysis of "library as place" from a user's perspective if it hopes to develop a deeper understanding of what the public library does for means to members of the communities in which they reside.

A Study on the Development of Liberal Arts Subject Related to Public Libraries: Knowing Public Library as a Commons (공공도서관 관련 교양과목 개발에 관한 연구 - '우리 모두의 장'으로서 공공도서관 알아차리기 -)

  • Mahnsoung Han
    • Journal of the Korean BIBLIA Society for library and Information Science
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    • v.34 no.2
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    • pp.33-57
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    • 2023
  • The main purpose of this research was to discover the characteristics of the 'commons for all' related to public libraries as much as possible, design the learning content, and finally to demonstrate whether the contents meet the general education requirement of universities. The public library is a study hall for multi-literacy, a common place for lifelong learning without discrimination, a place for experiencing digital sharing culture, a place for practicing public architectural design for community regeneration, a workshop for the maker movement and finally, a hub for forming local communities. In short, it has all the characteristics appropriate to being a commons. This subject titled "Sharing Culture and Local Libraries" is designed and composed with various literacy understanding, information ethics of information literacy, community consciousness and multicultural understanding, public consciousness, cooperative spirit and computer utilization ability, interdisciplinary knowledge, and integrated perspective. In a situation where the regional and public crises are increasing, this kind of general education subject about public library, is expected to contribute greatly to raising the awareness of the library and further enhancing the local community togetherness spirit by spreading the value of the library widely to students and inducing them to actually experience various library services.

Causality Analysis for Public and Private Expenditures on Health Using Panel Granger-Causality Test

  • Lee, Su-Dong;Lee, Junghye;Jun, Chi-Hyuck
    • Industrial Engineering and Management Systems
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    • v.14 no.1
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    • pp.104-110
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    • 2015
  • Every year governments spend their national budget on public health in order to reduce financial burden of individuals on health. Although it has been widely believed that the increase of public expenditure on health decreases private health expenditure, it has not been proved by analysis with real data. For better understanding, we conducted an empirical study on the real data of 17 OECD countries-Australia, Austria, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Japan, Korea, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The panel Granger-causality test is used to verify the cause-and-effect relationship between the two expenditures. As a result, public expenditure on health has a 3 to 4 year-lagged negative effect on private health expenditure in the cases of the 16 countries except for the United States.

Public Perceptions of Scientists and Engineers in Korea: Focusing on the Effects of Generation, Gender, and Class Fields (한국인의 과학기술자에 대한 인식분석: 세대, 성, 전공계열의 영향을 중심으로)

  • Park, Hui-Je
    • Journal of Technology Innovation
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    • v.13 no.1
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    • pp.169-191
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    • 2005
  • By analyzing a national survey of public understanding of science and technology, this paper attempts to examine public perceptions of scientists and engineers in Korea. A special attention is given to the gap in the view of scientists and engineers across generation, gender, and class fields (or major fields). This paper shows that generation has the strongest effect on public perceptions of scientists and engineers among all the socio-demographic factors examined in this study. Those over 50 are more likely to have the conventional idealized images of scientists and the stereotypical negative images of scientists simultaneously, while the 20s are less likely to accept the idealized image of scientists. The survey result thus may suggest that the younger generation began to depart from a patriotic and moral description of scientists and engineers-for the younger generation, science and engineering is losing moral respect but becomes perceived as an ordinary occupation. Contrary to the popular belief, however, gender has little effect on public perceptions of scientists and engineers. This finding questions the assertion that female students possess more negative attitudes toward scientists and engineers than male students, and thus are reluctant to develop careers related to science and engineering. By uncovering that class fields (or major areas) have no effect on the image of scientists, this study also call into question the assertion in the science wars that the inadequate appreciation of science particularly among those who do not major in science and engineering is responsible for inadequate support for science and technology.

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New Changes and Tasks of the Science Museum: Focusing on its relation to PUS (과학(박물)관의 새로운 변화와 우리의 과제: PUS와의 관련성을 중심으로)

  • Leem So-Yeon;Hong Sung-Ook
    • Journal of Science and Technology Studies
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    • v.5 no.2 s.10
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    • pp.97-127
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    • 2005
  • While science museums, whose functions consist traditionally in collecting, preserving, researching, and displaying science-related objects, present scientific knowledge, figures, or tools in the historical context, science centers give more emphases on science education by exposing interactive exhibits to their visitors. However, neither objects-oriented exhibits nor hands-on technologies can provide museum visitors with the full insight into modem science in terms of its complicated relationships to politics, economy, culture, art, risk, and environment. This paper argues that for the 21st century we need to establish a new kind of science museum through the critical examination of its previous kinds - science museums and science centers. In the first part of this paper, the history of the first and second generations of science museums, including their recent trends in science centers, in the West will be elaborated. Secondly, the development of national science museums in Korea will be discussed specifically for the understanding of Korean science museums. The next part of this paper will seek for the possibilities of the third generation of science museums through three examples, which show interdisciplinary, contextual, and institutional approaches to change science museums or science centers. Fourthly, the social function of science museums as 'forum' will be discussed in relation to promoting public 'participation' of science as well as public 'understanding' of science. As a conclusion, some practical suggestions and conceptual guidelines will be proposed for the future Korean national science museum.

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