Making Research Accessible to the Masses

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Posted by Huong Le, community karma 241

This question stems from a conversation had a few days ago with some friends and my adviser. Some academic work is written in such a way that it is nearly impossible to decipher as a graduate student, not to mention your average individual. We kind of concluded that some people are into theory and abstract concepts, and some are into research. And the two can work together (research should be guided by theory). And that it is the researcher's responsibility to translate it if s/he wants it read on a more public level.

My personal opinion lands around here: what is the point of doing research if no one reads it and/or it doesn't help anyone?

Do you think academic research should be accessible to laypersons?

And if so, whose responsibility is it to be the "translator" ?

over 12 years ago

4 Comments

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Rob Walsh, community karma 1466

I've had this argument with people many times. I'm of the opinion that yes, academic research should be accessible to laypersons.

Although, I say this with a caveat - making it jargon free won't necessarily in all instances make things absolutely easy to understand but it's a step in the right direction.

I do think there's a level of 'performance' in academia that is a consequence of the opaque jargon that's used. It's a way to say, "Hey, I'm in this special club where I we have a code that other people don't understand!" It's similar to law in a way where things could be written much clearer - but then the barriers to entry for being a lawyer would be reduced.

One of my favorite essays is Orwell's Politics and the English Language where he lays out these five rules:

  • Never use a metaphor, simile or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print
  • Never use a long word where a short one will do
  • If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out
  • Never use the passive where you can use the active
  • Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent.
  • Break any of these rules sooner than say anything outright barbarous.

 

over 12 years ago
Also: I want to point out that clarity is difficult to achieve. It's about the same difficulty of making a web application intuitive and elegant to use :)
Rob Walsh – over 12 years ago
A friend and I were talking about this again last night and we were saying that a lot of academic writing mirrors posturing--LOOK AT HOW MUCH I KNOW. LOOK AT MY BIG WORDS. I mean, a lit review is 50-75% of an article/paper in my field. REALLY? It's just another way for you to say "Look at my body of knowledge." *and* if you were to leave some of that out, then you'd get slammed by reviewers. I would like to think that sound research that has potential affect on social policy for example would get its due without having to be fantastical or crazy in order to be read on a more public level. (Only "crazy" things make it on the news.) Your lawyer example is really spot on as well as your statement on jargon.
Huong Le – over 12 years ago
I can see two kinds of clarity here: 1. One where you stop using jargon related to your field and make it accessible to say, policy makers. 2. Make it clear enough so the average person can understand it, if that is necessary. Let's be honest--not all of our research needs/wants to be read by the average individual. But maybe some of it needs to be (institutional/systemic racism? literature on education and reproduction of inequality?).
Huong Le – over 12 years ago
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Kyle Niemeyer, community karma 59

I personally agree with Christie Wilcox over at Science Sushi (see her posts on the subject: Part 1, part 2, part 2.5, and part 3) that every research lab should have a blog on their website where they (at least occasionally) describe their research to the public.

Most people get their science news from newspapers or cable news... neither of which usually do a good job explaining things (and sometimes even completely distort the message). There are a lot of great science writers online, but they can only do so much—and they don't have the deep level of understanding of the topic that the people doing the research have. And seriously, how much time would it take a grad student to write a paragraph or two explaining their own research?

over 12 years ago
I really like this idea, Kyle. Such a chance could make department websites more dynamic and interesting to the public, if each scholar (profs, grad students, etc.) posted an update about their research and its importance.
Brian Cody – over 12 years ago
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Cory Owen, community karma 193

I guess I have a follow up question--even if the research is "translated" into a language that the average person understands, how will the materials be disseminated?  I somehow doubt that my research, no matter how jargon free, will end up in the People magazine that my sister reads or the Good Housekeeping at the dentist's office. People (myself included) are pretty selfish with their time and I doubt that they'll pick up an article to read if their not interested in the topic, even if we amend the vocabulary.

over 12 years ago
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Michael Bishop, community karma 49

I think making academic research accessible to laypeople is great.  It should be respected, but not, in my opinion, considered a requirement for every academic.  

Sometimes its just not possible.  Other times it is possible, but it makes sense to have a division of labor where some people popularize the work that others do.

over 12 years ago
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