October 2018

The American Educational Research Association is partnering with 29 other scientific societies on a landmark survey to assess members’ views on science communication and public engagement. The survey will help AERA to better understand the views and needs of its members and will help shape the trajectory of community-wide science communication and public engagement efforts.

The survey is being administered by ScienceCounts and the Alan Alda Center for Communicating Science, and has been funded by the Kavli Foundation, the Burroughs Wellcome Fund, and the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative.

AERA members received an email from AERA Executive Director Felice J. Levine on October 31 inviting them to participate in the 15-minute survey. Members will also receive reminder emails in early November. All responses to the survey will be anonymous and confidential. Members are encouraged to respond to the survey and share their views.

The survey asks about participation in public engagement activities, the level of support needed to participate in these types of activities, views on federal science funding, and training in communication and public engagement, among other questions. The study is expected to yield critical new insights for social scientists and science communication practitioners.

An executive report highlighting key insights will be made publicly available, and participating societies will receive a detailed final report. All of the survey data will be archived on the Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR) survey database at the end of the project, enabling other researchers to work with the raw data.