O'Connor, Cliodhna and Joffe, Helene
(2014)
Social Representations
of Brain Research:
Exploring Public
(Dis)engagement
With Contemporary
Neuroscience.
Science Communication, 36 (5).
pp. 617-645.
ISSN 1552-8545
Abstract
Recent years have seen a major expansion of the position of neuroscience
in the mass media, public policy, and legal dialogue. Drawing on interviews
with 48 London residents, this article examines how people with no prior
involvement with neuroscience make sense of the concept of “brain research.”
Thematic analysis of the data furnished little evidence that neuroscience has
meaningfully infiltrated lay thinking. Respondents consigned brain knowledge
to the “other world” of science, which was seen as a decidedly separate
social milieu. They envisioned that the only route by which they might
become alert to brain information would be if they developed a neurological
illness. This article considers the social and psychological dynamics that
shape neuroscience’s dissipation into public consciousness.
| Item Type: |
Article
|
| Keywords: |
neuroscience; brain; social representations; dys-appearance; interviews; thematic analysis; |
| Academic Unit: |
Faculty of Science and Engineering > Psychology |
| Item ID: |
6616 |
| Identification Number: |
https://doi.org/10.1177/1075547014549481 |
| Depositing User: |
Cliodhna O'Connor
|
| Date Deposited: |
24 Nov 2015 15:35 |
| Journal or Publication Title: |
Science Communication |
| Publisher: |
SAGE Publications |
| Refereed: |
Yes |
| URI: |
|
| Use Licence: |
This item is available under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial Share Alike Licence (CC BY-NC-SA). Details of this licence are available
here |
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