Nanotechnology and Scientific Communication (eBook)

Deborah R. Bassett is Postdoctoral Associate in the Department of Communication at the University of West Florida, USA where she conducts research and teaches courses in communication and culture. She holds a PhD in Communication from the University of Washington, USA.

Nanotechnology and Scientific Communication 3
Acknowledgements and Disclaimer 5
Contents 6
1 Introduction and Overview 7
Social and Ethical Issues (SEI) 8
Definitional Issues 9
SEI Raised by NSE 10
Challenges to SEI Research 11
Concurrent Federally Funded Projects Addressing SEI Research 11
Historical Antecedents 14
Scholarly Context 15
Hymes and the Ethnography of Communication 16
Additional Theoretical Influences 20
Bourdieu’s Theories of Language 21
Bakhtin’s Dialogic Model in Cultural Codes Research 22
Research Questions 24
Description of Materials, Data, and Methods 25
Description of Materials 25
Data Analysis 26
Presentation of Results 28
Notes 28
2 Discovering a Code of Scientific Communicative Conduct 29
Orientation to Results Chapters 29
The Speech Community 30
Discovering the Code 31
The Psychology of a Scientist 33
What SCT Means by “Psychology” 34
Beginning Fieldwork 34
Cultural Premises and Rules Regarding the Nature of a Scientist 56
Additional Insight 58
Conclusion 59
3 Ways of Speaking about Social Relations 61
Overview 61
The Roles for Science and Industry in Society at Large 62
Different Roles for Basic and Applied Research 67
Public Understanding, Media Portrayal, and Education 74
Conclusions 81
4 Strategic Conduct in a Code of Science 82
Overview 82
Appropriate Communication about Science 83
Terms for Talk 98
Instances of “Communicate” and “Explain” 99
Instances of “Speak” and “Talk” 103
Instances of “Say” and “Tell” 109
Four Anecdotes 111
Strategic Use of Interview by the Respondents 115
Putting It All Together 116
Note 118
5 Evidence for Multiple Speech Codes 119
Overview 119
Cultural Codes Revisited 120
Example 1: Conversation with Graduate Students in Nano 121
Example 2: Graduate Students in NT Respond To Ethical Discussions 123
Evidence of Competing Speech Codes from Earlier Materials 126
Competing Codes, Competing Ideologies 129
Talk, Time, and Code Change 132
Note 134
6 Conclusions 135
Results Summary 135
Implications for Extant Literature 136
Implications for Proposition 6 of Speech Codes Theory 139
Goals of the Project 142
Study Limitations 143
Appendix A: Transcription Conventions 145
Bibliography 146
Index 155