Audiovisual Science Communication on TV and YouTube. How Recipients Understand and Evaluate Science Videos

With the emergence of the Internet, social media and video platforms are gaining considerable influence on the traditional media landscape in general and on science communication in particular. This has changed the role of science journalists as gatekeepers because many platforms are based on a part...

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Main Authors: Bettina Boy, Hans-Jürgen Bucher, Katharina Christ
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2020-12-01
Series:Frontiers in Communication
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fcomm.2020.608620/full
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spelling doaj-a3ba0b2dd26342b09234b294b8e5f31b2020-12-17T06:47:00ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Communication2297-900X2020-12-01510.3389/fcomm.2020.608620608620Audiovisual Science Communication on TV and YouTube. How Recipients Understand and Evaluate Science VideosBettina BoyHans-Jürgen BucherKatharina ChristWith the emergence of the Internet, social media and video platforms are gaining considerable influence on the traditional media landscape in general and on science communication in particular. This has changed the role of science journalists as gatekeepers because many platforms are based on a participatory culture, in which passive consumers can become active participants. In addition to scientists, non-scientific actors also act as experts and participate in the communication process between science and the public. In contrast to the relevance of YouTube for science communication there is a lack of research focusing on the questions of how internet users receive YouTube videos to acquire information about science, how successful audiovisual media function in knowledge transfer, and what effects it has on the epistemic regime of a society. Therefore, this study combines a discourse analysis with the aim to create a typology of YouTube videos—the independent variables—and an audience study for investigating knowledge transfer—the dependent variables. In the first step, this article presents the results of a systematic analysis and categorization of 400 German science videos, from which four types of audiovisual science communication on YouTube were derived: presentation films, expert films, animation films, and narrative explanatory films. In order to clarify how powerful these new forms of science communication are in terms of knowledge transfer, attitudes, and trust toward the presentation of science, a discourse analysis of the videos is combined with a multi-level reception study and an online survey. The reception study included eye-tracking to investigate the allocation of attention and two different methods of knowledge tests (recognition and recall) of which the multiple-choice test was also applied in the online survey. The results show that the type of video has an important impact on knowledge transfer and para-social effects. One of the central results of the audience study is that the videos' gaze guidance, the recipients' allocation of attention, and the results of knowledge testing are closely intertwined. The correlation of data from eye-tracking and the two knowledge tests prove in principle that the more homogeneous the gaze patterns of the recipients are, the better they score in the multiple-choice test as well as in the concept mapping test.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fcomm.2020.608620/fullscience communicationmultimodalityYouTubereception studyknowledge transfer
collection DOAJ
language English
format Article
sources DOAJ
author Bettina Boy
Hans-Jürgen Bucher
Katharina Christ
spellingShingle Bettina Boy
Hans-Jürgen Bucher
Katharina Christ
Audiovisual Science Communication on TV and YouTube. How Recipients Understand and Evaluate Science Videos
Frontiers in Communication
science communication
multimodality
YouTube
reception study
knowledge transfer
author_facet Bettina Boy
Hans-Jürgen Bucher
Katharina Christ
author_sort Bettina Boy
title Audiovisual Science Communication on TV and YouTube. How Recipients Understand and Evaluate Science Videos
title_short Audiovisual Science Communication on TV and YouTube. How Recipients Understand and Evaluate Science Videos
title_full Audiovisual Science Communication on TV and YouTube. How Recipients Understand and Evaluate Science Videos
title_fullStr Audiovisual Science Communication on TV and YouTube. How Recipients Understand and Evaluate Science Videos
title_full_unstemmed Audiovisual Science Communication on TV and YouTube. How Recipients Understand and Evaluate Science Videos
title_sort audiovisual science communication on tv and youtube. how recipients understand and evaluate science videos
publisher Frontiers Media S.A.
series Frontiers in Communication
issn 2297-900X
publishDate 2020-12-01
description With the emergence of the Internet, social media and video platforms are gaining considerable influence on the traditional media landscape in general and on science communication in particular. This has changed the role of science journalists as gatekeepers because many platforms are based on a participatory culture, in which passive consumers can become active participants. In addition to scientists, non-scientific actors also act as experts and participate in the communication process between science and the public. In contrast to the relevance of YouTube for science communication there is a lack of research focusing on the questions of how internet users receive YouTube videos to acquire information about science, how successful audiovisual media function in knowledge transfer, and what effects it has on the epistemic regime of a society. Therefore, this study combines a discourse analysis with the aim to create a typology of YouTube videos—the independent variables—and an audience study for investigating knowledge transfer—the dependent variables. In the first step, this article presents the results of a systematic analysis and categorization of 400 German science videos, from which four types of audiovisual science communication on YouTube were derived: presentation films, expert films, animation films, and narrative explanatory films. In order to clarify how powerful these new forms of science communication are in terms of knowledge transfer, attitudes, and trust toward the presentation of science, a discourse analysis of the videos is combined with a multi-level reception study and an online survey. The reception study included eye-tracking to investigate the allocation of attention and two different methods of knowledge tests (recognition and recall) of which the multiple-choice test was also applied in the online survey. The results show that the type of video has an important impact on knowledge transfer and para-social effects. One of the central results of the audience study is that the videos' gaze guidance, the recipients' allocation of attention, and the results of knowledge testing are closely intertwined. The correlation of data from eye-tracking and the two knowledge tests prove in principle that the more homogeneous the gaze patterns of the recipients are, the better they score in the multiple-choice test as well as in the concept mapping test.
topic science communication
multimodality
YouTube
reception study
knowledge transfer
url https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fcomm.2020.608620/full
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