National Institute of Science Communication
and Information Resources, CSIR, India
25 years of Science
Communication In India
Lessons
From Kumbh Mela Studies
Gauhar Raza & Surjit Singh
the beginnings…
In India the first efforts to communicate
modern scientific ideas originating in the
west were made during the latter half of
the nineteenth century. A number of
science books were translated from
English into Indian languages
the pioneers …
• Small groups in the form of ‘science societies’
mushroomed in various parts of the country
• Such groups held regular discussions on
mathematics and science subjects but their
sphere of activities was confined to the upper
‘class’ and ‘caste’ intellectuals
• they did not make any serious efforts to
transform themselves into a large scale
‘science movement’
mass movements…
• Organised freedom movement, in India
started taking shape in the last decade of 19th
century
• The freedom movement was the most potent
source and the carrier of modern ideas.
• The phrase ‘scientific temper’ was coined by a
politician. It was Pt Jawahar Lal Nehru, the
first Prime Minister of India
the realm of ideas…
Freedom movement while constructing Indian identity
popularized a few specific notions. Most of these ideas
did not originate in Indian culture
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World peace and nonviolence
Equality of human beings
Gender equality
Freedom of speech
Education for all
Jobs for all
Science and technology for nation building
pioneer scientists..
• JC Bose, CV Raman, SN Bose, SS Bhatnagar, H
Bhabha, Birbal Sahani----- argued that when
we get independence we will require large
scientific and technical manpower and
infrastructure
shaping of modern India ….
• Their personal close relations with political
leadership helped the cause of science and
science popularization
• After India achieved independence the ruling
classes of the emerging capitalist society were
convinced that a wider acceptance of modern
scientific ideas is necessary for building an
industrialized country
discourses on S&T …..
• Phrases such as ‘scientific temper’ ‘broad
scientific outlook’, ‘scientific belief system’ and
‘scientific method’ echoed repeatedly in
various forums of debate including political
speeches
institution building…
• Education, agriculture extension centres and
health system expanded
• CSIR, IARI, DRDO, Atomic Energy Commission
were built
• Popular Science Books, Text books, journals
(specialised as well as popular), print and
electronic media was geared up to propagate
science. Many Museums and Planetariums
were built
science communication ...
• But India is a large country with complex
problems. It is a multicultural, multi-lingual
society and is a stratified nation. The ruling
classes did not have any reason to educate
every citizen
• Official and private media catered to both the
emerging scientific consciousness and the
existing reactionary retrograde thought
structures
science communication ...
• It is in this context that a few members of the
Communist Party of India and some social
reformers who were ‘left of the centre’
realised the importance of communicating
science to the people in their own mother
tongue
communicating for class
consciousness...
• They recognised that communicating
science to the masses could serve two
important objectives. One that, it could
enhance the class consciousness of the
people and two that it would help the
'left', to reach newer sections of society,
specially the younger generations
cultural modes for communication...
• Through experience the leadership of the
movement had understood that some
scientific ideas propagate faster through the
cultural medium
• Therefore Street plays and songs became an
integral part of Peoples’ Science Movement
deconstructing PSM ...
• By 1983 some among the leadership of PSM
started asking simple questions
– What science should be communicated and why?
– Why some of the scientific ideas propagate faster than
others?
– Why some of the ideas can be communicated easily
through songs, drama and films?
– Is people’s structure of thinking a clean slate on which
any thing can be written by scientists or
communicators of science?
question of progress..
• These questions were not articulated as
clearly as I have put them in the previous
slide, but these issues did bother us in some
form or the other
the ‘deficit model’....
• The second half of the 1980s was the period
when Jon Miller and many other colleagues were
trying to probe the level of scientific literacy, in
the western countries
• By mid 1990s Miller et al. developed categories of
Scientific Literacy (civic, cultural, etc.)
• This lead to categorisation of citizens in
Scientifically literate and Scientifically illiterate
• And finally the trajectory crystallised into what is
known as ‘Deficit Model’
development of indigenous models...
• In India, I was asking a different set of questions.
• In order to measure PAUS, can we use the same
questionnaire that have been developed in the west?
• Who should we focus on, those who give scientifically
correct answers or those who give wrong answers?
• Instead of categorising respondents can we develop
categories of responses?
• Given the same demographic parameters of
respondents why do some questions elicit higher
percentages of correct response while others don’t.
What are the causes of percentage variation across
various questions?
Can we use the same questionnaire?
• Answer to the first question was No
• Indicators developed in one cultural setting
may not be of use in other socio-cultural
milieu
Who should we focus on?
• The second question also led to a clear
answer: surely, one can probe why certain
sections of society achieve a higher level of
absorption of scientific ideas but one must
deeply investigate those who have not given
correct answers
• This would help us to devise strategies to
communicate science to those section who
have given scientifically wrong answers
Can we develop categories of
responses?
• The third question led to four categories of
responses
• Scientifically Correct
• Scientific but Incorrect
• Extra Scientific
• Don’t Know
Why certain questions elicit larger
percentage of correct answers?
• The fourth question led us to an
understanding that there are a few
parameters, besides demographic factors
(such as age, gender, education, exposure to
media, etc), which determine the intensity of
propagation of scientific ideas
parametrics of cultural distance...
• Intrinsic factors
– Complexity: involved in explaining a phenomenon
– Control : Collective or individual
– Intensity :of intervention in quotidian life of a
citizens
– Lifecycle: of a phenomenon
Cultural Model of Analysis…
Demographic
determinants
Scientific
Knowledge
System
Cultural distance
Intrinsic
factors
People’s
Cultural
cognitive
Structure
relative cultural distance model..
• The next natural question was: Can we
determine this cultural distance empirically
• In response to this question a method to
measure ‘Relative Cultural Distance’ was
developed
relative cultural distance model..
The ‘Relative Cultural Distance’ can be defined
as the distance travelled by a scientific idea,
information or law on time scale to become an
integral part of worldview of a common citizen
In 1989 we the research team
goes to Kumbh Mela, held at
Allahabad, to administer a
survey and collects data for the
first time
Idi= index of democratisation of an idea
Xi= cultural distance of a phenomena from quotidian life of people
Average Cultural Distance has
reduced over the years…
Table 2: Statistical properties and cultural distance
Estimate
Years
2001 (CG1) 2007(CG2) 2013 (CG3)
Χc1 shape
-1.0
-2.0
-1.4
Χc2 rotation
8.5
7.1
5.8
Χc3 revolution
9.1
9.1
9.7
Χc4 galaxy
12.0
11.5
10.2
Χc5 evolution
18.8
18.0
19.0
Χc mean
9.48
8.74
8.66
Cronbach’s alpha
0.721
0.749
0.788
Standard deviation
5.47
5.15
5.30
Skewness
-1.094
0.755
0.603
Kurtosis
2.188
2.10
2.178
Standard error (Mean)
Standard error (Skewness)
0.094
0.042
0.084
0.040
0.142
0.035
Standard error (Kurtosis)
0.084
0.080
0.071
Rotation
of earth
Cultural distance of
various Scientific
concepts from
province of Kerala
Shape
of
earth
-0.5
Fourth Quadrant
Cultural distance
3.0
Province
1
Kerala
Revolution
of earth
6.2
Formation
of galaxy
6.6
7.4
First Quadrant
Cultural distance
Evolution
of
mankind
Cultural distance of various
provinces from Rotundity of
Earth
Rajasthan
Uttar Pradesh
-0.9
Andhra Pradesh
-0.5
Kerala -0.5
-2.0
Bihar
0.0
Haryana
2.4
0.5
Maharashtra
2.8
Shape of
earth
1.8
Assam
1.2
Delhi
West Bengal
Fourth Quadrant
Cultural distance
First Quadrant
Cultural distance
Comparative Shift in Cultural Distance
ΔΧci = ∑Χcit2 ─ ∑Χcit1
Where,
• ΔΧci: denotes the shift in cultural distance
• t2: is the latest point of observation on
time scale
• t1: is the earliest point of observation on
time scale
Table 3: Magnitude and polarity of shift in cultural distance
Concepts
Shift
(2001-07)
Shift
Shift
(2007-13) (2001-13)
ΔΧc mean
0.74
0.08
0.82
ΔΧc1 shape of the earth
-1.0
+0.6
-0.4
ΔΧc2 rotation of earth
-1.4
-1.3
-2.7
ΔΧc3 revolution of earth
0.0
+0.6
-0.6
ΔΧc4 concept of galaxy
-0.5
-1.3
-1.8
ΔΧc5 theory of evolution
-0.8
+1.0
-0.2
Efficacy of Channels of Information Vrs Cultural Distance
Efficacy (Δ = access to channels - no access)
50
40
30
High Efficacy
Low
Efficacy
20
Window of
opportunity
10
0
Q1
Q2
Q3
Q4 Q5
Q6
Q7
Cultural Distance of Natural Phenomena
Q8
Newspaper
Television
Radio
The Most Important
Lesson
From Kumbh Mela Studies
To Create
A
National Centre
Which will conduct research
on all aspects
of
Scientific temper and
Public Understanding of Science
National Council For Science
Technology Communication, DST,
And
National Institute of Science
Communication and Information
Resources,
have taken a decision to launch this
centre
Objectives
 Carry out surveys, create and maintain data bases

Carry out international, national and regional comparative
studies

Define and monitor scientific temper / rationality in
everyday life

Construct of indicators of ‘scientific culture’
Structure of the Centre
Electronic media
Monitoring Cell
Interpersonal media/
NGOs Monitoring Cell
Print media
Monitoring Cell
National media
monitoring and
intervention laboratory
Developed
countries
Cross Country
PAUS research
Developing
countries
Indicators Monitoring
Cell
NCST
In-charge
Indicators, statistical
and database
laboratory
Statistical Tools
Development Cell
Science Education
Monitoring Cell
Macro level
Studies
Central Audio
Video Facilities
National PAUS
Research
Studies on Values,
Norms and Attitudes
Database Services Cell
Regional and
Micro Studies
PUS information
Dissemination Cell
Thanks