Kazuto Kato1), Takahiro Kiuchi2)
1) Department of Biomedical Ethics and Public Policy, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Osaka
2) Department of Health Communication, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo
Atsushi Sadamatsu1)
1) Graduate School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Saitama University
In the field of science communication, the concept of the "deficit model" has gained increasing prominence. This concept emerged from Science and Technology Studies (STS), a research discipline that has developed globally in recent years. This paper reviews four seminal works in STS to examine its research trends and introduces a case study that lent credibility to the deficit model concept. Furthermore, it examines the criticisms directed at both this case study and the deficit model itself. STS possesses an inherent critical perspective on science through which it has focused on the uncertainties of scientific practice. Reflecting on this perspective, this paper suggests that criticism of the deficit model does not merely rest on the moral claim that "imposing knowledge is undesirable" but rather requires science communicators to be reflexive about the uncertainty of the knowledge on which they rely.
Koichi Mikami1)
1) Department of Foreign Languages & Liberal Arts, Faculty of Science and Technology, Keio University
Since the beginning of the 21st century, the importance of communication between science and society has been repeatedly stressed. Looking back the history, Science & Technology Studies (STS) has argued that science inherently has social elements. Therefore, such communications can open up decision-making processes in science, which are often exclusive to scientific experts, to a broader audience. In the 1990s, this point was demonstrated in the medical sciences, as people living with HIV in the United States and a patient group for muscular dystrophy in France both acquired expert knowledge and successfully collaborated with scientists, improving the quality of their research. However, scientific fields must engage not only with specific patients and their families but also with the general public. A research stream in STS called the sociology of expectations suggests that this type of communication can be challenging because resources are allocated based on future promises; therefore, scientists, government administrations, and business organizations frequently communicate their sometimes overly optimistic visions to society. Furthermore, when combined with short-term competitive funding, the pressure for science to be immediately useful exacerbates this tendency. It is, however, difficult for the public to evaluate the certainty of such visions appropriately. Therefore, achieving effective communication between science and society necessarily requires conversations to improve the broader social environment surrounding scientific research.
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