Public science

Public science is an increasingly popular term for research that is conducted amongst, or includes, the public. Two traditions of public science have emerged, one based on participatory action research and another based on science outreach.

The participatory action research approach seeks to develop a critical framework for making systematic inquiry and analysis a public enterprise. It is committed to valuing knowledges that have been historically marginalized and delegitimized (i.e., youth, prisoner, immigrant, farmer) alongside traditionally recognized knowledges (i.e., scholarly). Through the formation of research collectives, it aims to share the various knowledges and resources held by its individual members so members can participate as equally as possible. The choice of appropriate research questions, design, methods and analysis as well as useful research products are decided collectively. Centres for this form of public science include the Public Science Project and the Society for Participation, Engagement, Action and Knowledge Sharing.

Examples of public science projects in the participatory action research tradition include the Morris Justice Project and Our Food.

The science outreach approach has some similarities to citizen science but typically describes projects that are conducted outdoors or in another type of public or accessible space such as a public park, metro stop, library, university campus, etc. Similar to public art, there are aspects of collaboration, community support and involvement, and even site specificity involved.

Public science efforts in the science outreach tradition include Science on the Buses, in which city buses in many major European Union cities were decorated with large informational science posters in November 2002. Likewise, a project in Toronto placed “advertisements” with science facts on [1] buses in Toronto during July 2009.

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