Note Gold Open Access 2023

Exploring the Applicability of the Science Communication Research Agenda to Agricultural Communications Scholarship

Journal of Applied Communications
Journal · Vol. 107 · Issue 1 · Art. 7
Abstract

Agricultural communications scholars do not use a national research agenda to guide their research, which could be limiting the impact and rigor of the discipline. In this commentary, we argue that agricultural communications scholars should adopt the science communication research agenda published by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine in 2017 because the goals of science communication, outlined in the agenda, are relevant to agriculture. Members of the committee who developed the agenda study science communication in contexts of food, agriculture, life sciences, the environment, political science, health, nutrition, and psychology, among others. They developed the agenda with the intent for it to inform and guide research in all science communication sub-disciplines or areas involving contentious public issues. We provide examples of studies that have used the agenda to inform research in agricultural and natural resources communications. We also explain how research priorities outlined in the science communication research agenda align with agricultural communications scholarship. Recognizing there are challenges unique to agriculture, we recommend agricultural communications scholars use the science communication research agenda as a research guide and adapt the relevant research recommendations for agricultural communications. © 2023, New Prairie Press. All rights reserved.

Keywords

Author Keywords

Science communication agricultural communications research agenda

Index Keywords

Author Affiliations
Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, United States
Funding & Acknowledgements
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, NASEM
contentious in the public sphere\u201D (p. 1). A committee of prolific science communication scholars wrote the 153-page agenda with support from five funding agencies\u2014the Burroughs Wellcome Fund, the Climate Central via the Rita Allen Foundation, the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, The David and Lucile Packard Foundation, and The Hewlett Foundation (NASEM, 2017). The committee that wrote the agenda represent a wide variety of social sciences, including life sciences communication, food and agricultural communication, psychology, human ecology, and political science (NASEM, 2017; see Table 1). They developed the agenda with the intent for it to inform and guide research in all science communication sub-disciplines or areas involving contentious public issues. Although now six years old, the agenda addresses science communication research priorities that can be considered timeless because they are broad and relevant to all science communication sub-disciplines. Essentially, the research problems they address are impossible to fully solve in all relevant science contexts and communication environments in just six years. Examples of such research priorities are provided later in the document (see Tables 4, 5, and 6). That is not to say, however, that the agenda does not lack newer or emerging research priorities, but we do not know of plans to update the science communication research agenda.
Rita Allen Foundation, RAF
contentious in the public sphere\u201D (p. 1). A committee of prolific science communication scholars wrote the 153-page agenda with support from five funding agencies\u2014the Burroughs Wellcome Fund, the Climate Central via the Rita Allen Foundation, the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, The David and Lucile Packard Foundation, and The Hewlett Foundation (NASEM, 2017). The committee that wrote the agenda represent a wide variety of social sciences, including life sciences communication, food and agricultural communication, psychology, human ecology, and political science (NASEM, 2017; see Table 1). They developed the agenda with the intent for it to inform and guide research in all science communication sub-disciplines or areas involving contentious public issues. Although now six years old, the agenda addresses science communication research priorities that can be considered timeless because they are broad and relevant to all science communication sub-disciplines. Essentially, the research problems they address are impossible to fully solve in all relevant science contexts and communication environments in just six years. Examples of such research priorities are provided later in the document (see Tables 4, 5, and 6). That is not to say, however, that the agenda does not lack newer or emerging research priorities, but we do not know of plans to update the science communication research agenda.
William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, HF
contentious in the public sphere\u201D (p. 1). A committee of prolific science communication scholars wrote the 153-page agenda with support from five funding agencies\u2014the Burroughs Wellcome Fund, the Climate Central via the Rita Allen Foundation, the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, The David and Lucile Packard Foundation, and The Hewlett Foundation (NASEM, 2017). The committee that wrote the agenda represent a wide variety of social sciences, including life sciences communication, food and agricultural communication, psychology, human ecology, and political science (NASEM, 2017; see Table 1). They developed the agenda with the intent for it to inform and guide research in all science communication sub-disciplines or areas involving contentious public issues. Although now six years old, the agenda addresses science communication research priorities that can be considered timeless because they are broad and relevant to all science communication sub-disciplines. Essentially, the research problems they address are impossible to fully solve in all relevant science contexts and communication environments in just six years. Examples of such research priorities are provided later in the document (see Tables 4, 5, and 6). That is not to say, however, that the agenda does not lack newer or emerging research priorities, but we do not know of plans to update the science communication research agenda.
David and Lucile Packard Foundation, DLPF
contentious in the public sphere\u201D (p. 1). A committee of prolific science communication scholars wrote the 153-page agenda with support from five funding agencies\u2014the Burroughs Wellcome Fund, the Climate Central via the Rita Allen Foundation, the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, The David and Lucile Packard Foundation, and The Hewlett Foundation (NASEM, 2017). The committee that wrote the agenda represent a wide variety of social sciences, including life sciences communication, food and agricultural communication, psychology, human ecology, and political science (NASEM, 2017; see Table 1). They developed the agenda with the intent for it to inform and guide research in all science communication sub-disciplines or areas involving contentious public issues. Although now six years old, the agenda addresses science communication research priorities that can be considered timeless because they are broad and relevant to all science communication sub-disciplines. Essentially, the research problems they address are impossible to fully solve in all relevant science contexts and communication environments in just six years. Examples of such research priorities are provided later in the document (see Tables 4, 5, and 6). That is not to say, however, that the agenda does not lack newer or emerging research priorities, but we do not know of plans to update the science communication research agenda.
Burroughs Wellcome Fund, BWF
contentious in the public sphere\u201D (p. 1). A committee of prolific science communication scholars wrote the 153-page agenda with support from five funding agencies\u2014the Burroughs Wellcome Fund, the Climate Central via the Rita Allen Foundation, the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, The David and Lucile Packard Foundation, and The Hewlett Foundation (NASEM, 2017). The committee that wrote the agenda represent a wide variety of social sciences, including life sciences communication, food and agricultural communication, psychology, human ecology, and political science (NASEM, 2017; see Table 1). They developed the agenda with the intent for it to inform and guide research in all science communication sub-disciplines or areas involving contentious public issues. Although now six years old, the agenda addresses science communication research priorities that can be considered timeless because they are broad and relevant to all science communication sub-disciplines. Essentially, the research problems they address are impossible to fully solve in all relevant science contexts and communication environments in just six years. Examples of such research priorities are provided later in the document (see Tables 4, 5, and 6). That is not to say, however, that the agenda does not lack newer or emerging research priorities, but we do not know of plans to update the science communication research agenda.
Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, GBMF
contentious in the public sphere\u201D (p. 1). A committee of prolific science communication scholars wrote the 153-page agenda with support from five funding agencies\u2014the Burroughs Wellcome Fund, the Climate Central via the Rita Allen Foundation, the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, The David and Lucile Packard Foundation, and The Hewlett Foundation (NASEM, 2017). The committee that wrote the agenda represent a wide variety of social sciences, including life sciences communication, food and agricultural communication, psychology, human ecology, and political science (NASEM, 2017; see Table 1). They developed the agenda with the intent for it to inform and guide research in all science communication sub-disciplines or areas involving contentious public issues. Although now six years old, the agenda addresses science communication research priorities that can be considered timeless because they are broad and relevant to all science communication sub-disciplines. Essentially, the research problems they address are impossible to fully solve in all relevant science contexts and communication environments in just six years. Examples of such research priorities are provided later in the document (see Tables 4, 5, and 6). That is not to say, however, that the agenda does not lack newer or emerging research priorities, but we do not know of plans to update the science communication research agenda.
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