Content Analysis in the Research Field of Science Coverage

Abstract

Science communication has been defined as encompassing “all forms of communication by and about the sciences, within science (professional audience) as well as in the [broader] public sphere (general audience)”. This broad understanding of science communication includes all kinds of communication focusing on scientific work or scientific results, within science or to non-scientists, in one-directional or dialogical form. It also includes communication about the natural sciences, the arts or the humanities, and it has considerable overlaps with research fields such as health communication and risk communication. Content analysis, especially of media content, is a common method in the research field and this article provides an overview of this research.

The Ecosystem of Science Communication in the Post-Truth Era: Perspectives, Contexts, Dynamics

“…Our study analyses the public contribution offered in connection to the films Don't Look Up (2021), Borat's American Lockdown (2021), Debunking Borat -Season 1 (2021), and Barbascura X and Cartoni Morti's YouTube channels videos about the climate crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic. These contributions represent samples of science-related content analyses that are multimodal in nature, including textual, visual and other elements that are systematically under-researched (Kessler & Schäfer, 2022).…”