The contribution of scientists to popular literature, their role as expert witnesses and their influence among peers: A case study in the field of acid rain
"The study examined scientists' contribution to the popular literature published during 1972 to 1987 in the field of acid rain and found that 4.7% (102) of the total population (2,177) of scientists engaged in acid rain research contributed 8.7% (59 items) to the total 677 items in popular magazines, and only.0013% (one item) to the total 747 items from major newspapers. Of these 102 scientists, 19 have testified before Congressional hearings on acid rain issues while the other 83 have not. Defining the scientists who have testimony as ""influential scientists"", and those who did not testify as ""noninfluential scientists"", the study compared the mean number of popular items contributed by each group. Statistical tests supported the research hypothesis that influential scientists contributed a greater number of popular items than the noninfluential scientists. From the population of scientists engaged in acid rain research, the probability of an influential scientist contributing to the popular literature was 4.9 times the probability of a noninfluential scientist doing so."
Library Science, Education, Sciences, Information Science, Environmental Sciences
University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign
Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign