By Sheeva Azma

Science is a human endeavor. Sociology is the study of humans in society. Learn about ways sociology informs science and science communication or #SciComm in this post.

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At Fancy Comma, we recognize that the sociology of science is an important, yet underappreciated, aspect of science research that can help improve the questions scientists ask and their applicability to society at large. 

As a science communications company with roots in academic science, Fancy Comma has a unique dual mission of not only serving our clients with science communications services but also training and mentoring scientists in science communication. (To learn more about either or both of those, get in touch!)

One huge part of helping scientists communicate better is understanding the context in which science communication occurs. Said another way: it’s good to know your audience when communicating, and in the case of public-facing SciComm, the audience is society at large. 

Knowing Your Audience Is a Winning Communications Strategy

Knowing your audience – and talking to them directly – is crucial when trying to win political campaigns, as I learned in 2022. Talking to everyday voters is the core of what is called a “grassroots” political strategy. Working in comms to win two high-stakes Senate races in the 2022 midterms elections, I learned the value of working at the grassroots level. Not only was I canvassing voters by phone, but I was also writing tweets and coming up with digital media strategy ideas. My two roles in field organizing and comms complemented each other nicely. I was able to get an idea of the issues facing voters, and then use that info to draft tweets and other social media content. This strategy worked and we won both Senate races! Based on my experiences, I recommend that all campaign communications staffers work in field organizing to get an idea of the type of people for whom they are really writing campaign materials!

Everyone knows that you can’t win a campaign without talking to people. The same goes with promoting science literacy. One can think of understanding the social context of science as an effort to make science more “grassroots” as well. This especially applies to the biomedical and health sciences, which directly involve people in the form of human subjects research. 

3 Ways Sociology Can Improve Science (and SciComm)

When interfacing with the general public, whether through SciComm or human subjects research, the academic discipline of sociology becomes relevant. I’ve previously blogged about the fact that science doesn’t happen in a vacuum. I’ve also talked about the “sociology of science,” or the human lens through which scientific discoveries are made. 

The American Sociological Association defines sociology as “study of social life, social change, and the social causes and consequences of human behavior. Sociologists investigate the structure of groups, organizations, and societies and how people interact within these contexts.”

In April 2023, I, as a scientist turned science writer, and Kelly Tabbutt, a sociologist, sat down to chat about specific ways science can be informed by sociology. You can watch the YouTube video here. 

As a scientist, I was not trained to think of the sociological aspects of creating and testing hypotheses, or the social impacts of their work. This goes beyond understanding things like privilege and thinking carefully about why you set the hypotheses you do, and what contributions your role in society may provide to your scientific achievements. Yes, as scientists, we like to investigate things near and dear to our hearts, but we’re never told that there’s a sociological aspect to everything that we do. 

At least, that’s what I have learned working with Kelly over the past few years. She says that “science is so deeply human” that it readily lends itself to sociological examination. That’s a perspective I would never have come up with on my own as a scientist. She further says that “to take the work that we [sociologists] do and what we learn and make it something that organizations and governments and individuals can put into real-world practice” is one powerful application of sociology. 

Keep reading to learn three ways that sociology can inform science, according to Kelly, Fancy Comma’s resident sociology expert. These principles can also be applied to science communication, as I talk about later in the blog. 

1. Interdisciplinarity 

Interdisciplinarity is the combination of many different academic disciplines. “Sociology is well-positioned to listen to other fields and to inform other fields,” Kelly says. The interdisciplinarity in sociology exists both within the social sciences, and outside of them. Adding a social perspective is relevant to practically any academic discipline involving people, and science is one of them (especially biomedical science, which involves human subjects). 

2. The pragmatic power of sociology

Kelly states that a second aspect of sociology that can inform science, as well as other disciplines, is the pragmatic power it can have. Sociology is inherently useful and practical to inform science as a human endeavor. Studying the way that human behaviors, events, issues, and experience positions science because “[science] is so deeply human,” Kelly says. While we often don’t talk about society in our discussions trying to isolate and analyze specific variables, society is the backdrop against which scientific understanding occurs. Understanding society as a crucial piece of science adheres to the scientific standard of observation and hypothesis testing about everything in the environment of interest.

3. Focus on reflexivity

The idea of reflexivity, in a nutshell, involves recognizing your own “positionality” or your own placement in society. That can include race, gender, class, occupation, education, where you live – those different aspects of your identity put you in relation to other groups and to society at large. Reflexivity refers to understanding how that shapes your perception, interactions, the people with whom you interact, and so on.

One way to promote sociology within science is by the use of Social SciComm. Social SciComm uses the principles of SciComm to explain and promote understanding and awareness of the social sciences disciplines. The social sciences include not only sociology, but also psychology, economics, political science, anthropology, and more. In fact, this informative explainer post on aspects of sociology can be considered an example of Social SciComm.

Applying Sociology in SciComm

Sociology can also be a huge part of SciComm. Because public-facing SciComm seeks to explain scientific concepts to society, understanding society itself can be an important aspect of a SciComm strategy. Understanding human behavior on the social level can not only inform science, but help optimize SciComm strategies for human understanding and contextualize scientific information within society. For example, in the COVID-19 pandemic, an understanding of social attitudes toward COVID-19 vaccines and treatments was important in developing the proper public health materials that would resonate with people.

To read more about Social SciComm, check out sociologist Kelly Tabbutt’s article, “Bringing the ‘Social’ into SciComm,” for the Fancy Comma newsletter.

What do you think about the role of sociology in science and SciComm? Chime in below in the comments!

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