Evaluating public communication of science and technology

Evaluative research’s dependence on the context of its realisation – dependence on the objectives and on the type of activity involved in reaching these objectives – raises questions as to whether, on the one hand, evaluating PCST activities is different from evaluating other activities and, on the other, if there is a relationship between how PCST is interpreted and the evaluation of the activity that follows it. By focusing attention on who will be the ‘object’ of the evaluation, it is possible to find a connection between the different aims of a PCST initiative, the different kinds of communication promoted through it, and its evaluation. An activity devoted mainly to transferring knowledge or to persuading the public will be evaluated in terms of the changes produced at this level. If the aim is also to promote dialogue or participation, the promoters of the communication initiative will have to be under observation. The chapter aims therefore to discuss what does it mean to evaluate PCST when it moves from activities that focus on transmitting knowledge to activities oriented towards dialogue and public engagement. The main concern is not to identify a social research method for use in evaluation without contra-indications. What evaluation requires is adequate awareness of the advantages and disadvantages of the methodology adopted to observe the change generated by communication. In the end, what matters is not isolating the effects of communication, on the one hand, and its causes, on the other; rather, it is understanding the ways in which they combine.