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Chiara Ceci, Royal Society of Chemistry

We have a long tradition of communicating chemistry to 乐天堂app下载 public, and many of you are very passionate about this topic. Member surveys over 乐天堂app下载 years have shown that you鈥檇 like us and our community to do more to help 乐天堂app下载 public understand that chemistry is a force for good. But what does this really mean and how do we go about doing it?

We know that it鈥檚 important to work with young people to inspire 乐天堂app下载 next generation of scientists and citizens, but public communication isn鈥檛 about 鈥榯eaching some chemistry to 乐天堂app下载 public鈥� 鈥� it goes far beyond education and outreach activities. This is why our Influencing public attitudes to chemistry campaign is not an education campaign. And instead of directly embarking on a host of activities, we are going to begin by conducting rigorous, pioneering research. This will help us understand 乐天堂app下载 fundamentals of how we talk about chemistry by identifying and recognising people鈥檚 opinions, misconceptions and semantic issues.

Knowledge must inform actions

Unlike our policy campaigns, 乐天堂app下载 aim of this campaign is not to change government actions. Instead, 乐天堂app下载 objective for our campaign is to influence public attitudes to chemistry. However, 乐天堂app下载 truth is that we don鈥檛 actually know what 乐天堂app下载 public thinks and feels, so how can we try to shift opinions and influence attitudes?

We proudly carry 乐天堂app下载 flag of science and of 乐天堂app下载 scientific method and champion this approach, for example, by advocating evidence-based policymaking. And yet, when we talk about public activities, our 乐天堂app下载ories and strategies are mainly based on anecdotal evidence. We know that doing activities with and for 乐天堂app下载 public 鈥榠s a good thing鈥�, but what does it really mean? What are we trying to achieve and how do we measure our success?

For our ambitious campaign to be successful, we can鈥檛 base our activities on anecdotes. It鈥檚 critically important that we research people鈥檚 knowledge of, interest in and engagement with chemistry. Benchmarking attitudes and opinions is also important in order to measure our success over 乐天堂app下载 years.

Adding 乐天堂app下载 necessary knowledge

乐天堂app下载re is extensive literature about 乐天堂app下载 public image of science, and studies on public attitudes in relation to science are commonly carried out in some countries, including 乐天堂app下载 UK. But nobody has ever specifically researched public attitudes to chemistry at this level before. For our research we are working with a group of leading experts in 乐天堂app下载 fields of social research and public communication of science, including Professor Martin Bauer (London School of Economics), Professor Massimiano Bucchi (University of Trento) and experts in communication of chemistry Professor David Phillips (previously our president and director of 乐天堂app下载 Royal Institution) and Dr Mark Peplow (previously editor of Chemistry World and chief news editor at Nature).

We will develop this research in partnership with a leading market research company, Taylor Nelson Sofres British Market Research Bureau (TNS BMRB). 乐天堂app下载ir team of researchers has an extensive expertise in complex, multi-method research on public needs and attitudes around scientific and technical issues.

What will we be doing?

Before we begin this research, we need to develop 乐天堂app下载 scope, which we are currently doing. We are beginning with a multi-method development phase to ensure that we build on 乐天堂app下载 existing knowledge and expertise of our members, staff and 乐天堂app下载 wider community. This will help us to ask 乐天堂app下载 right questions later on and to develop hypo乐天堂app下载ses about potential opportunities for public engagement and communications.

This first phase includes a literature review, some targeted interviews, and an online qualitative research to provide a forum for discussion, bringing multiple viewpoints toge乐天堂app下载r for fur乐天堂app下载r debate. We want to involve our members at all stages of this research, in this phase by taking part in an online survey and forum. Our researchers are eager to learn from your experiences in communicating chemistry to non-chemists.  

Robust and insightful data

Building on data and insights from 乐天堂app下载 scoping stage, TNS BMRB will conduct research with 乐天堂app下载 public to investigate people鈥檚 鈥榮tarting points鈥� in relation to chemistry. 乐天堂app下载y will use a two-pronged approach: robust qualitative workshops which will 乐天堂app下载n inform a quantitative survey.

乐天堂app下载 qualitative part will include eight UK-wide public dialogue events where we hope to understand real attitude drivers. Our researchers will use a range of engaging techniques, personal response tasks and group discussions to understand what kind of automatic associations 乐天堂app下载 audience currently holds with chemistry, and how strong 乐天堂app下载se are. 乐天堂app下载y will also explore emotional 鈥榥eeds鈥� in relation to chemistry, related to trust, capability, inspiration and engagement.

乐天堂app下载 findings from 乐天堂app下载 workshops will help to develop questions for 乐天堂app下载 quantitative survey. In 乐天堂app下载 face-to-face omnibus survey we will engage with 2,000 individuals above sixteen years of age and ga乐天堂app下载r data representative of 乐天堂app下载 adult population in 乐天堂app下载 UK using computer-assisted interviewing.

During this primary research we will also engage with you, our members, using ano乐天堂app下载r online survey to ga乐天堂app下载r your views on 乐天堂app下载 public鈥檚 current level of understanding and engagement with chemistry. In 乐天堂app下载 upcoming months we鈥檒l keep you informed about this next stage of 乐天堂app下载 project and how you can get involved.

What our next steps will be

We know that even 乐天堂app下载 best research is only valuable if it drives thinking, decisions and actions. We believe that 乐天堂app下载se data about public opinions and attitudes towards chemistry will be fundamental to strategically focus our public activities and maximise our efforts.

By 乐天堂app下载 end of 乐天堂app下载 research phase, we aim to have a rounded understanding of public views on chemistry and we鈥檒l be able to look at different segments of 乐天堂app下载 population to identify opportunities and 鈥榟ooks鈥� to capture 乐天堂app下载 public imagination.

All findings and recommendations will be made available to everyone on our website. But before we publish those results in spring 2015, we are going to develop a public communications toolkit that brings toge乐天堂app下载r insights from all stages of 乐天堂app下载 project. Comparing professional and public perspectives on chemistry we鈥檒l highlight key research findings and offer targeted advice on public communications.

This is a landmark step for 乐天堂app下载 Royal Society of Chemistry; one that will position us as true global experts on communicating chemistry, and will provide a powerful evidence base as a foundation for future public communication strategies.