ABSTRACT
Science communication in both research and practice tends to refer to the physical, chemical and biological sciences, sometimes alongside fields such as medicine, mathematics and engineering. Relatively little attention has been paid by PCST (public communication of science and technology) researchers to how other academic fields such as the social sciences, arts and humanities are discussed in the broader public sphere (Schäfer 2012). The research literature on PCSS (public communication of the social sciences) remains relatively sparse and scattered across many disciplinary areas. The historical impetus for research into science communication and the public understanding of science came from concerns about the public position of the natural sciences and this limited remit has influenced the subsequent development of the field. However, social scientists and historians of science significantly contributed to research in this field, and it is these academic traditions that generated the classic critiques of deficit approaches to PCST. In this light, it is curious that PCST researchers have rarely conducted studies of PCSS, or applied these critiques to communicating with non-specialists about their own findings. While the lack of attention to social sciences in related fields such as science and technology studies may also contribute to the problem (Camic et al. 2011; Danell et al. 2013), these legacies cannot fully account for the continuing low profile of PCSS as a research topic.
