Filter by author: Peter Weingart

Search results

• Date of publication Dec 16, 2024 Category: Article

  Intermediaries in the limelight: how exposure to trust cues in content about science affects public trust in science

  by Lars Guenther , Justin T. Schröder , Anne Reif , Janise Brück , Monika Taddicken , Peter Weingart , Evelyn Jonas

  A potential decline in public trust in science has often been linked to digital media environments, which serve as intermediaries of trust by providing cues for why (not) to trust science. This study examines whether exposure to trust cues in content affects public trust in science (across population groups). The study employs a mixed-method design, combining content analysis (“n” = 906) and panel survey data (“n” = 1,030) in Germany. The findings reveal that exposure to trust cues in certain media predicts public trust in science. Variations across trust groups indicate a nuanced nature of trust-assessing processes in digital media environments.

  Volume 23 • Issue 09 • 2024 • Special Issue: Public (dis)trust in science in digital media environments (Trust in science)

• Date of publication Apr 15, 2024 Category: Article

  Citizen science and learning outcomes: assessment of projects in South Africa

  by Nonsikelelo Sackey , Corlia Meyer , Peter Weingart

  This study assessed educational goals and learning outcomes in 57 citizen science projects in South Africa. Emphasising data collection as the primary objective, the findings revealed a secondary focus on environmental awareness, protection, and management, as well as education and research advancement. Notably, educational goals were often not prioritised, and formal measures for assessing learning outcomes were infrequently employed by project leaders. The study underscores the necessity for systematic approaches to evaluate the educational impacts of citizen science projects in South Africa.

  Volume 23 • Issue 03 • 2024

• Date of publication Jun 14, 2019 Category: Essay

  The conflation of motives of science communication — causes, consequences, remedies

  by Peter Weingart , Marina Joubert

  We explore and discuss the diverse motives that drive science communication, pointing out that political motives are the major driving force behind most science communication programmes including so-called public engagement with science with the result that educational and promotional objectives are blurred and science communication activities are rarely evaluated meaningfully. Since this conflation of motives of science communication and the gap between political rhetoric and science communication practice could threaten the credibility of science, we argue for the restoration of a crucial distinction between two types of science communication: educational/dialogic vs promotional/persuasive.

  Volume 18 • Issue 03 • 2019 • Special Issue: Communication at the Intersection of Science and Politics, 2019 (Intersection of Science and Politics)

• Date of publication Sep 21, 2016 Category: Commentary

  Science communication and the issue of trust

  by Peter Weingart , Lars Guenther

  Science communication, whether internally or to the general public depends on trust, both trust in the source and trust in the medium of communication. With the new 'ecology of communication' this trust is endangered. On the one hand the very term of science communication has been captured by many different actors (e.g., governments, PR experts, universities and research institutions, science journalists, and bloggers) apart from scientists themselves to whom science communication means different things and whose communication is tainted by special interests. Some of these actors are probably more trusted by the general public than others. On the other hand, the channels that are used to communicate science are also not trusted equally. Particularly the widespread use of social media raises doubts about the credibility of the communication spread through them.

  Volume 15 • Issue 05 • 2016