1. The Culture of Public Engagement
at Hubbard Brook and Harvard Forest
[need a good image]
This material is based upon work supported by the National
Science Foundation (NSF, Grants AISL 1421214-1421723, and
1713197. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or
recommendations expressed in this material are those of the
authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the NSF.
3. Who am I?
Public Opinion about
Science and Scientists
Scientists’ opinions about the
public and public engagement
4. What is my task?
• Understand engagement culture at the sites
• Three rounds of surveys and interviews
Fall 2017 Survey (Response rate 70%) Fall 2017 semi-structured
interviews (n = 17)
5. 0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
40%
45%
50%
Never (1) Once (1) 2-5 times
(3)
6-11 times
(4)
About once
a month (5)
Multiple
times per
month (6)
Once a
week or
more (7)
Past Year Face-to-Face Engagement
(Public Talks, etc.)
Hubbard (n = 39) Harvard (n = 46) ESA 2016 (n = 776)
Fall 2017 Survey
6. 0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
40%
45%
50%
Never (1) Once (1) 2-5 times
(3)
6-11 times
(4)
About once
a month (5)
Multiple
times per
month (6)
Once a
week or
more (7)
Past Year Online Engagement
(Twitter, Facebook, Web articles, etc.)
Hubbard (n = 39) Harvard (n = 46) ESA 2016 (n = 776)
Fall 2017 Survey
7. 0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
40%
45%
50%
Never (1) Once (1) 2-5 times
(3)
6-11 times
(4)
About once
a month (5)
Multiple
times per
month (6)
Once a
week or
more (7)
Past Year News Media Engagement
(Interviews with newspaper, TV, etc.)
Hubbard (n = 39) Harvard (n = 46) ESA 2016 (n = 776)
Fall 2017 Survey
8. 0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
40%
45%
50%
Never (1) Once (1) 2-5 times
(3)
6-11 times
(4)
About once
a month (5)
Multiple
times per
month (6)
Once a
week or
more (7)
Past Year Policy Engagement
(Direct interaction with policy makers)
Hubbard (n = 39) Harvard (n = 46) ESA 2016 (n = 776)
Fall 2017 Survey
9. 0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
40%
45%
50%
Never (1) Once (1) 2-5 times
(3)
6-11 times
(4)
About once
a month (5)
Multiple
times per
month (6)
Once a
week or
more (7)
Past Year Youth Engagement
(Classroom talks, etc.)
Hubbard (n = 39) Harvard (n = 46)
Fall 2017 Survey
10. 1.00
2.00
3.00
4.00
5.00
6.00
7.00
F2F Online Media Policy
Perceived Engagement Willingness
(1 = Not at all willing, 7 = Very Willing)
Hubbard (n = 39) Harvard (n = 46) ESA 2016 (n = 776)
Fall 2017 Survey
11. 1.00 2.00 3.00 4.00 5.00 6.00 7.00
Attitudes, Normative Beliefs, & Efficacy Beliefs
(1 = Strongly disagree, 7 = Strongly agree)
Hubbard (n = 39) Harvard (n = 46)
Attitudes: Audience character (3Qs, a = .82)
Attitudes: Overall engagement (4Qs, a = .72)
Attitudes: Audience knowledge (4Qs, a = .77)
Norms: Subjective (4Qs, a = .67)
Norms: Descriptive (3Qs, a = .73)
Efficacy: Self (12Qs, a = .87)
Efficacy: Response-Previous (7Qs, a = .85)
Efficacy: Response-General (3Qs, a = .66)
Fall 2017 Survey
12. Policymakers consider scientific evidence
Natural Res. Pros. consider …evidence
Society values science
Individuals consider scientific evidence …
Adequate funding for scientific research …
More young people choose scientific careers
Fulfilling a sense of duty to society …
0 50 100
Perceived Engagement Goal Importance
(1 = Very low importance, 100 = Very high importance)
Hubbard (n = 39) Harvard (n = 46)
Fall 2017 Survey
14. 0 20 40 60 80 100
Perceived Importance of Engagement Objectives
(1 = Very low importance, 100 = Very high importance)
Hubbard (n = 39) Harvard (n = 46)
Getting people interested or excited …
Helping to inform …
Demonstrating openness and transparency
Showing ability to solve problems
Showing that scientific community listens …
Showing that scientific community cares …
Fall 2017 Survey
Trust
15. 1.00 3.00 5.00 7.00
Prior Thought about Engagement Objectives
(1 = Strongly disagree, 7 = Strongly agree)
Hubbard Harvard
Getting people interested or excited …
Helping to inform …
Demonstrating openness and transparency
Showing ability to solve problems
Showing that scientific community listens …
Showing that scientific community cares …
Fall 2017 Survey
Trust
17. GoalsTactics Communication objectives
Where to?
Should the focus be on
fostering a “strategic”
public engagement
culture … where goals
are clear and tactics
and objectives flow
from these goals?
This material is based upon work supported by the National
Science Foundation (NSF, Grants AISL 1421214-1421723, and
1713197. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or
recommendations expressed in this material are those of the
authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the NSF.
Notes de l'éditeur
20 seconds
20 seconds
20 seconds
20 seconds
People have generally positive views about engagement, think their audience is fairly okay when it comes to knowledge and character.
Also, contrary to some popular discussion, most folks think their colleagues would have positive views about those who engage. They are a little less like to perceive that their colleagues are engaging, but even that score is well above the mid-point of the scale suggesting that most people think their colleagues are engaging to some degree.
For efficacy, the pattern is that people rate their average skill level and their impact in previous engagement efforts a little above the mid-point. More generally, though, they think that engaging can make a differenc in the world.
The point is that, if you ask people, they’re willing to say that they want something to happen because of their engagement efforts …