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Rhetoric and the Public Understanding of Science Dr. Simon Locke, Social Science, Kingston University The purpose of this Fellowship is to undertake an exploratory and developmental survey of the rhetoric of inquiry literature, to consider its application to issues in the public understanding of science. A central interest is on the construction and reconstruction of boundary demarcations, that is the techniques employed by participating actors and social groups to advance lines of inclusion and exclusion between and amongst themselves. This focus has a direct bearing on the relation between scientists and nonscientists at all levels of knowledge transfer, as the manner in which knowledge claims are formulated will affect how they are received. Thus, in so far as rhetorical analysis is concerned with the address to audience, i.e., the representation of self and other, a deeper knowledge of the forms and range of address available to and utilised by scientists will provide a significant contribution to understanding the reception of science in public contexts. With this in mind, the research has relevance to a range of user groups at all levels of knowledge transfer, including policy-makers, educationalists, science journalists, and so on. Particular points of parallel are discernible with recent work in media analysis, focusing on representations of science in science fiction and their adoption by fans of the genre. The principal intention here, however, is to concentrate on the development of a theoretical and methodological framework with a view to outlining a programme of empirical study. As such, at the broad levels of theory and method, the research will benefit from and aim to contribute to the exchange of knowledge with other, more empirically focused, Fellowships in the programme, by providing a conceptual framework into which their findings may be located and systematized and suggesting further lines for future research. |
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