Current status of public understanding of science: Results of Kumbh Mela survey studies

Abstract

This chapter is a result of 25 years of research on public understanding of science (PUS) in India. The authors have since 1998 carried out PUS surveys during every Kumbh and Ardh Kumbh Mela (a religio-cultural fair visited by millions of Hindus) held at Sangam (confluence of three holy rivers), Allahabad. The analysis carried out and results obtained during this period were reported after every survey. The conceptual model known as 'cultural distance model' and an empirical method to compute cultural distances of various scientific explanations from the thought complex of sampled population were once again put on the anvil of statistical analysis. In this chapter, for the first time, we report and discuss the shifts in cultural distances that have come about since early 2000s. We also have suggested a method to compute the efficacy of media channels using cultural distance model. The analysis has shown that newspaper still remains the most effective channel for communicating scientific ideas. However, like television and radio, it offers a narrow window of opportunity for communicating ideas. This band of opportunity is highly sensitive to cultural distance of a given scientific idea from the thought complex of the target population. The first section of the chapter deals with the history of science communication in India, in brief. The second section reports and discusses the status and shift in PUS and the efficacy of media channels.