Filter by author: Masoud Irani

A substantial body of empirical research identifies participatory models of science communication as best practice for achieving social, ethical, or governance objectives, particularly where dialogue, inclusion and public influence are central. At the same time, storytelling has emerged as a widely used strategy for engaging audiences with scientific issues, helping audiences make informed decisions, and shaping community attitudes and behaviours regarding science-related topics. Drawing on narrative studies, this essay examines how storytelling contributes to audience engagement through processes such as narrative transportation, simulation, and p-responses. It argues that reading or listening to stories is not a passive activity, and that these forms of audience engagement can be understood as interpretive and affective involvement. Storytelling does not always support participation in the dialogic or co-productive sense (typically associated with participatory science communication), but it can always support some of the aims of participatory approaches, such as fostering reflection, empathy, and relevance. While remaining analytically distinct from participatory practices that involve audience input and influence, it plays a valuable and complementary role in science communication by enhancing audience accessibility and resonance.

People become familiar with stories as sources of information in their childhood, and, while they have recently received interest as potential science communication tools, few studies have considered aspects of story quality on science communication. We postulate that quality is an important, if challenging, facet that should be considered when exploring the potential of short stories in science communication. This essay argues that quality should be a key consideration of those interested in studying or working with short stories for science communication purposes and presents criteria for the `well-made' short story.