Do you believe the results of any research, to be considered useful, have to be communicated at the level of the general public, even if the research area is highly technical? Why or why not?
Discussion Forum 1
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Discussion Forum 1
I believe that the result of any research should be shared with the general public to enhance its usefulness. The public is an indispensable part of any research study that should not be sidelined in any way. First and foremost, research is mostly conducted to better the life of the general public and satisfy its curiosity (Kalkman et al., 2022. In many cases, participants in any research study are members of the general public who deserve to know the outcome of their participation. Additionally, research is mostly conducted using taxpayers’ money from the government (Tri, 2018). Such contributions give the public a significant notch of importance that must be considered while disseminating the results for the sake of accountability, transparency, and appreciation.
Scientists argue that the public might not be able to understand the result of a study because they are enshrouded in jargon and technical terms that only scientists might understand (Kalkman et al., 2022). However, this is more of a justification for their laziness to present the result in a manner that the public can understand. There is a huge knowledge that has been obtained from research and shared with the public and is now helping it in day-to-day life. For instance, issues and the importance of a balanced diet, exercise, hygiene, protected sex, planting trees, and child psychology are research findings that have been adopted by the public and are now helping it a great deal (Tri, 2018). One can urge that if such knowledge was not shared with the public, it could not have been helpful to it. Or if the public was able to understand and use this information, how then, can’t it understand other research results? Therefore, it is necessary to share research findings with the public for better usefulness.
References
Tri, K. D. (2018). A concept: factors influencing sharing tacit knowledge in public sector organization. Russian Journal of Agricultural and Socio-Economic Sciences, 76(4). http://dx.doi.org/10.18551/rjoas.2018-04.07
Kalkman, S., van Delden, J., Banerjee, A., Tyl, B., Mostert, M., & van Thiel, G. (2022). Patients’ and public views and attitudes towards the sharing of health data for research: a narrative review of the empirical evidence. Journal of medical ethics, 48(1), 3-13. http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/medethics-2019-105651