Browsing by Author "Weiss, David"

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Building Science Communication Strategies. New or Existing Initiatives
(Lexington Books, 2023) Vásquez Guevara, Denisse Helena; Mcintosh White, Judith; Weiss, David; Ochoa Avilés, Angélica María
After reviewing the available methodological paradigms of participatory methodologies, their data collection tools, and how these have been effectively used in science communication projects, we present two case studies developed by some of the authors of this book. In this endeavor, we aim to provide our readers with a full spectrum of how science communication strategies can be developed according to the needs and interests of audiences and scientists. In Case Study 6 A Todo Pulmón (ATP), With Your Whole Lungs, we present a participatory research study we designed to develop informational and behavioral tools to support asthma self-management of children and teenagers and their caregivers in Ecuador, based on the reported barriers and limitations that young patients and their families face around this chronic illness. Case Study 7 presents the results of a multiple-case study developed in two countries around two already-existing health behavior change programs, which promoted children’s healthy nutrition and physical activity. This study explored how to develop engaging science communication in culturally diverse scenarios through a participatory evaluation approach that aimed to improve audience engagement. Finally, we suggest three broad guidelines to plan science communication strategies and develop content and tools that use research findings to create collaboratively useful resources for audiences, with the goal of promoting audience engagement.
Ciencia para todos: guías para superar los desafíos de la comunicación científica en casos de comunicación de la salud
(2022) Weiss, David; Vásquez Guevara, Denisse Helena; McIntosh White, Judith
Decolonizing Science Communication. A Road for Envisioning Public Engagement
(Lexington Books, 2023) Vásquez Guevara, Denisse Helena; Weiss, David; Mcintosh White, Judith; Ochoa Avilés, Angélica María
As evidenced in Chapter 2, science communication requires evolving from a deficit paradigm to dialogic and participatory frameworks in order to promote newer practices to overcome several limitations that maintain a distant and tense atmosphere between science and society. This chapter presents several reflections that combine decolonial thought and science communication processes to explain how and why research processes have contributed to enacting practices that leave people behind. Moreover, we will offer a reflection on how to practice self-reflexivity applied to science communication studies and tangible practices to conduct research that provides participants a voice. Finally, we will combine decolonial epistemologies with other streams of Western scholarship that provide clear guidelines for researchers who want to develop ethical science communication.
Participatory Co-Design of Science Communication Strategies for Public Engagement in the US and Ecuador around Health Behavior Change
(2022) Vásquez Guevara, Denisse Helena; McIntosh White, Judith; Weiss, David
Science communication research and practice currently promote strategies oriented towards creating audience engagement around scientific content. Consequently, science communication needs to continually explore new methodologies that enable audiences’ participation in order to meet their interests and needs. The present study combines qualitative and participatory action research (PAR) methods guided by decolonial epistemologies to develop a co-designed project with public health, nutrition and sports science researchers to recruit young audiences from Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA, and from Cuenca, Ecuador. The main goal of this study was to create strategies to motivate young audiences’ engagement and interest in adopting healthy habits. This article focuses on the study’s research design in order to provide guidelines and procedural recommendations for facilitating a co-design approach for developing science communication initiatives targeting children and teenagers in Ecuador and the United States. As we demonstrate, the PAR approach for co-design leads to useful outcomes: (1) the incorporation of decolonial theory guidelines in participatory research; and (2) the development of science communication strategies that combine online and offline activities to put in dialogue scientists and their audiences, ultimately resulting in mutual learning, thus allowing scholars and practitioners to explore in practical terms how to co-design improved strategies.