Our knowledge of highly complex processes across health,
biology and the planet we inhabit is developing at a phenomenal rate, with more
and more discoveries and revelations reported daily via mainstream and social
media channels. The general public have access to ‘factual articles’, news
reports, and research summaries now more than ever, and if you are internet
savvy, primary information is at your fingertips. But if this is the case, why
is there still such a large gap between scientific research and public opinion?
‘Don’t believe everything you
read’ is a phrase often overheard while commuters flick through the newspaper
and shrug off the latest research findings. ‘I have a friend who smoked all his
life and lived to the age of 95 – never did him any harm’ seems to be a coined
phrase by the elderly when reading/hearing cancer warnings. And, a Facebook
post by mothers across the world frantically cautioning against the dangers of
child vaccination is shared all too often. The thing is, many people just don’t
BELIEVE science anymore, or even more scarily, they believe that scientists are
crazy people in white coats concocting all sorts of dangerous substances with
the end goal of making $$$.
So what is it that make the public
sceptical or untrusting of science?
Image by Fresh Science.
Contradictory Research – research
is continuously growing and improving to fully understand the complexity of
science, however this brings with it the possibility of contradictory results, identification
of human errors, and worst of all, a paper retraction. Unfortunately, yes, science
is constantly changing, and it is understandable that the public may struggle
to trust new conclusions when these are changing so frequently. But, what is
important to remember is that these discrepancies are vastly outweighed by outstanding
discoveries and the evolution of science.
Pseudoscience – we’ve all read a
fake promotional articles masquerading as scientific evidence claiming that ‘green
tea can cure cancer’. With so many of these circulating, most of which are not
based on any evidence, or based on a highly exaggerated scientific principle, it
isn’t surprising that the public are often very misinformed.
Clickbait – social media is
riddled with articles over-reporting scientific research, and data being blown
out of proportion. For example, advancements in cancer drug research can very
often lead to articles embellishing the truth by claiming ‘new drug to cure
breast cancer’. This gives a false hope to patients suffering with these types
of diseases, and when presented with the reality of the situation, patients are
often disappointed and lose faith in Doctors and researchers.
Publication = scientific fact? –
despite all scientific journals having a lengthy peer review process, published
research does not constitute scientific fact. And, neither does the impact
factor or reputation of the journal. Having work published means that your work
is seemingly reliable, with sound evidence, which can be built on or further
investigated by other scientists.
Selective Reporting –
unfortunately this system means that only positive or landmark results are put
forward for reporting in newspapers and the like. The public therefore do not
get to see the positive and negative results, or merits and shortfalls of the
research, which then leads to false conclusions or a skewed view.
What can we do to change this?
Science is complex and convoluted, sometimes there is not just
one right answer, and the more we know, the more we realise we don’t know. As
scientists, it is our responsibility to communicate this to the public, so that
they are aware that a contradiction or opposing research does not undermine
previous work. It needs to be made it clear that all research is very much a ‘work
in progress’. We also need to continue to be honest communicating and sharing
our work so that people have the option to read REAL science blogs and articles
that are accessible, instead of hyped media and clickbait. What cannot be understood is often feared. The gap should be
bridged between primary hard-core science journals and ‘dumbed down’
exaggerated science in the media. It is not the responsibility of the public to
go searching for trusted sources, it is the responsibility of the media to stop
scaremongering and scientists to pick up this slack outside of the laboratory
bubble.
Further Reading:
No comments:
Post a Comment