Jessica Pugel, Elizabeth C Long, Mary Fernandes, Katherine Cruz, Cagla Giray, D Max Crowley, Taylor Scott
{"title":"Who is listening? Profiles of policymaker engagement with scientific communication.","authors":"Jessica Pugel, Elizabeth C Long, Mary Fernandes, Katherine Cruz, Cagla Giray, D Max Crowley, Taylor Scott","doi":"10.1002/poi3.273","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"The evolving science around COVID-19 made timely digital communication with policymakers increasingly important for all constituencies. This holds true particularly for the scientific community, where evidence-informed policymaking can influence the effectiveness of public responses. In this context, understanding how to reach policymakers effectively and which policymakers are likely to engage with scientific information delivered through digital mediums is critical. This study provides a novel observational approach to understanding reach with policymakers through science email campaigns. Using a sample of nearly 3000 state policymakers, we assessed data from five digital messaging campaigns. Results indicate four profiles of legislators: those who rarely open and open slowly (Never Openers), those who only opened a couple of emails (Rare Openers), those who open quickly, but do not always open (Intermittent Openers), and those that consistently open quickly (Always Openers). Female legislators and legislators who had served for fewer terms were more likely to be Always Openers or Intermittent Openers, relative to male legislators and legislators who had served more terms. This study reveals patterns of email engagement and indicates science communication efforts may need to adopt more targeted strategies that better reach policymakers who tend to engage less frequently with emailed research content.","PeriodicalId":46894,"journal":{"name":"Policy and Internet","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":4.1000,"publicationDate":"2022-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9216211/pdf/nihms-1748872.pdf","citationCount":"3","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Policy and Internet","FirstCategoryId":"98","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1002/poi3.273","RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"COMMUNICATION","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 3
Abstract
The evolving science around COVID-19 made timely digital communication with policymakers increasingly important for all constituencies. This holds true particularly for the scientific community, where evidence-informed policymaking can influence the effectiveness of public responses. In this context, understanding how to reach policymakers effectively and which policymakers are likely to engage with scientific information delivered through digital mediums is critical. This study provides a novel observational approach to understanding reach with policymakers through science email campaigns. Using a sample of nearly 3000 state policymakers, we assessed data from five digital messaging campaigns. Results indicate four profiles of legislators: those who rarely open and open slowly (Never Openers), those who only opened a couple of emails (Rare Openers), those who open quickly, but do not always open (Intermittent Openers), and those that consistently open quickly (Always Openers). Female legislators and legislators who had served for fewer terms were more likely to be Always Openers or Intermittent Openers, relative to male legislators and legislators who had served more terms. This study reveals patterns of email engagement and indicates science communication efforts may need to adopt more targeted strategies that better reach policymakers who tend to engage less frequently with emailed research content.
期刊介绍:
Understanding public policy in the age of the Internet requires understanding how individuals, organizations, governments and networks behave, and what motivates them in this new environment. Technological innovation and internet-mediated interaction raise both challenges and opportunities for public policy: whether in areas that have received much work already (e.g. digital divides, digital government, and privacy) or newer areas, like regulation of data-intensive technologies and platforms, the rise of precarious labour, and regulatory responses to misinformation and hate speech. We welcome innovative research in areas where the Internet already impacts public policy, where it raises new challenges or dilemmas, or provides opportunities for policy that is smart and equitable. While we welcome perspectives from any academic discipline, we look particularly for insight that can feed into social science disciplines like political science, public administration, economics, sociology, and communication. We welcome articles that introduce methodological innovation, theoretical development, or rigorous data analysis concerning a particular question or problem of public policy.