Academic literature on the topic 'Doctor Who, science communication, democratisation of science'

Fiction is often credited with shaping public attitudes to science, but little science communication research has studied fans' deep engagement with a science-themed fiction text. This study used a survey to investigate the impacts of television series ‘Doctor Who’ (1963–89; 2005–present) on its viewers' attitudes to science, including their education and career choices and ideas about science ethics and the science-society relationship. The program's reported impacts ranged from causing participants to fact-check ‘Doctor Who’'s science to inspiring them to pursue a science career, or, more commonly, prompting viewers to think broadly and deeply about science's social position in diverse ways.

The article is dedicated to Demyan Nikolaevich Bakhrakh — the outstanding legal scholar, Doctor of Law, Professor, Honored Scientist of the Russian Federation. His contribution to the development of the domestic science of administrative law is analyzed. The article also tells about the interesting moments of the author’s communication with Professor D.N. Bahrakh, who turns 90 on October 16, 2022.

The revival of the BBC series Doctor Who in 2005 heralded the successful rebirth of a defunct science fiction series that had been cancelled in 1989. While the 2005 incarnation was designed as a slick, high-budget media product with cross-national appeal, the initial series, which was broadcast regularly from 1963 to 1989, was quite different – quirky, low-budget and distinctly British. In fact, the roll-out of Doctor Who on American television screens in the late 1970s was marred by missteps thanks in part to structural differences between the US and British broadcasting systems. This essay explores the initial expansion of Doctor Who into the United States beginning in the late 1960s, first via syndication to commercial stations with Time Life Television and later to Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) stations nationwide through the BBC's US distribution arm, Lionheart Television. The attempt to internationalise the Doctor Who audience in its first two decades is examined through the larger lens of shared British and American broadcasting history and policy before and during the Thatcher era. Ironically, while the BBC scrapped Doctor Who in the 1980s due to market pressures and personal rivalries, it attracted an engaged and loyal fan base in the United States, ultimately boosting the fortunes of American public television.

Purpose This study aims to explore the information-seeking behavior of female patients engaged in doctor shopping. An investigation was conducted on the following aspects: the reasons for doctor-shopping behavior (DSB), patients’ information needs and sources, patients’ use of the obtained information and the degree of satisfaction with the information collected. Design/methodology/approach In-depth interviews were conducted in this study. In total, 30 female participants who lived or worked in the Taipei metropolitan area, Taiwan, were recruited. Findings Dissatisfaction with treatment, confirmation of illness conditions, inconvenient treatment locations and hours and dissatisfaction with doctor’s attitude were the main reasons for DSB. Family members, friends, the internet and mass media were sources of information for participants when they sought second and successive doctors. In most cases, the degree of satisfaction toward the obtained information increased after each visit to a doctor during the doctor-shopping journey. However, not all participants shared information with doctors. The participants suggested that detailed explanations provided by doctors and better communication with doctors may reduce the occurrence of doctor shopping. Originality/value The findings of this study help medical personnel better understand DSB. The findings revealed the significance of information to patients and indicated that the information collected during doctor shopping is beneficial for patients.

Abstract Dementia diagnosis and care relies on extensive communication between a doctor, patient, and oftentimes a family caregiver. Communication is important for recognizing when there is a cognitive concern, gaining an understanding of the patient’s history of cognitive decline, engaging in cognitive testing, and providing quality care post-diagnosis. We conducted a qualitative study of 35 primary care clinicians and primary care nurse practitioners working in safety net settings in California to understand facilitators and barriers to dementia diagnosis and care. Using thematic analysis, we identified similar themes to those that have been explored extensively related to language and communication in doctor-patient relationship. Topics ranging from challenges that emerge when there is language discordance, difficulties finding and using interpreters, and challenges related to communicating medical topics in a patient’s native language. Specifically related to dementia, we found that language challenges emerge due to inadequate translation or availability of cognitive testing and post-diagnostic resources in multiple languages. However, we also identified unique challenges related to communication, including hearing loss, communicating about trauma during the diagnostic history interview, navigating the logistics of care, including communicating with specialists, building trust and rapport when there is language discordance, and cultural miscommunication even when the spoken language is the same. These issues affect historically marginalized individuals and communities, especially when dementia and cognitive impairment are present. We suggest new approaches and policies to enhance communication and better ways of working with patients who are hard of hearing.

In this article I return to the fannish transitional object, relating fandom across the life course (Harrington and Bielby 2013) to recent critical concepts of ‘consumed nostalgia’ and ‘mediated nostalgia’ (Cross 2015; Lizardi 2015), both of which imply that ‘enduring fandom’ can represent an unhealthy holding on to the past. Challenging this, I turn to Christopher Bollas’ (1993) notion of ‘generational consciousness’, considering instead how a long-running British science fiction TV series such as Doctor Who (BBC1, 1963–) can become a ‘generational object’ for multiple cohorts of fans (Booth and Kelly 2013), this being recognised through fan discourses of ‘my Doctor’. I also examine how changes in the fan object linked to recasting and reimagining are drawn on by fans to understand the ageing of their own generation, and its movement from a culturally powerful ‘illusion’ (that the text is meant for them), to disillusionment (that Doctor Who is now aimed at younger audiences, and hence they may no longer be culturally central to its meanings and practices). If we can identify ‘media generations’ (Bolin 2017), then this calls for a greater exploration of how media attachments, retained by fans across many decades, can act as life-transitional objects within experiences of ageing. I conclude by addressing the ‘textual ageing’ of Doctor Who, demonstrating how the programme denies its own metaphorical ‘life cycle’ (Harrington 2016) in favour of always regenerating, even while it simultaneously trades on the cultural/heritage value of being more than 50 years old.

This article focuses on how mode and genre shaped the formal and narrative possibilities in The Tripods (BBC, 1984–5). It explores how the first and second series are substantially different from each other and offers an approach that attempts to explain the complex ways in which generic boundaries are made to operate within television. Such an approach can offer insight into how modifications in mode were a desire to replace an existing but ailing show, Doctor Who (BBC, 1963–) with one that would be successful because it fitted the existing industrial model of televisual flow. However, The Tripods ultimately failed because it deployed a strategy of visual distinction in contravention of the prevailing industrial televisual model. The regulation of form can be shown to be historically specific on British television, and the article examines assumptions regarding the fluidity of genre in this particular medium. The modification of The Tripods from an adventure show that addressed a general television audience to one that specifically addressed fans of science fiction demonstrates how shifts in genre can be linked to wider arguments about the increased complexity of the television image and a strategy of visual distinction as an example of the ‘era of availability’ on British television. Finally, a discussion of genre demonstrates the tensions between stability and uncertainty in an extensive cultural form such as television, and how the modality of genre is made complex by bringing together the social and the technological.

"The effectiveness of medical evidence is largely dependent on the ability to communicate that evidence to the science-users, mostly patients. Like in many fields of science, also in medicine trust is one of the most important components of doctor-patient interaction. Cultivation of patient trust is, in turn, primarily a linguistic activity, subject to linguistic norms and conventions. Doctor-patient interaction has been at the core of a growing discussion during the past few years, especially in the context of innovations in evidence-based methods and related to the applicability of clinical guidelines derived from those methods. In Italy, this debate resulted in a recent law (n.219/2017), which declares that “the care and trusting relationship between doctor and patient which is based on the informed consent is promoted and enhanced” (art.1) and that “the time of the communication between doctor and patient is a time of care” (art.8). This new kind of perspective on communication between physicians and patients has led to several questions, above all (i) what is the best definition of trust? and (ii) how achieve a trusting relationship? According to a strictly philosophical point of view, it implies how to successfully communicate imperfect evidence and risk to patients who are in a position of epistemic asymmetry with respect to the doctors; it is problematic because it involves a transfer of complex knowledge of risks and uncertainties from experts to laypeople. The paper investigates the difficulties in communicating medical evidence associated with risk and uncertainties of diagnosis and treatment. "

The existing literature identifies parent communication as a protective mechanism in the reduction of sexual risk behaviors among youth; however, not much is known about father–child communication and bonding and its association with HIV testing. Therefore, this study examines the link between the relationship, bonding, and communication shared by African American (AA) fathers and their children and HIV testing over time. This secondary data analysis included data from Waves 1 and 3 of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health on the health of adolescents to adults in a sample of AA males and females ( N = 509), with a mean age of 16 years. The independent variables included fathers’ communication, bonding, and relationships, and the dependent variables included HIV testing. A multinomial analysis assessed the factors that contributed to or prevented HIV testing. It was found that the overall model was statistically significant; F(24, 55) = 8.95; p < .001. The results suggest that father–adolescent communication was statistically significant and positively associated with HIV testing ( B = 23.88; p < .05). AA adolescents who reported going to the doctor or making a nursing visit were more likely to get tested multiple times ( B = 13.91; p < .001). Our findings indicate that father–child relationships are essential to adolescent sexual development and serve as a protective factor against threats to sexual health. Future studies should be designed to investigate the cognitive mechanisms through which the father–child bonding and communication may impact HIV testing.

The democratisation of science - shifting science governance, work opportunities and ideologies away from the exclusive domains of elite minorities and into the hands of the people - is an important aim of science communication. If communication products such as television series can influence people�s relationships with science in terms of their career choices, belief systems and feelings of ownership over science, then it is important for science communicators to understand what television series are saying about science. In this thesis I examine representations of science in the long-running science fiction television series, 'Doctor Who'. In particular I analyse the social, cultural, political and economic aspects of this representation to assess its consistency with four goals for the democratisation of science: goals that I name franchise (lay empowerment in science governance), equality (equal access to opportunities in science workplaces and careers), progress (democratic choice about the role of technology in our lives and our societies) and enlightenment (democratic freedom to choose our beliefs and worldviews about the universe). Analysing the more than 200 'Doctor Who' serials broadcast between 1963 and 2008, I first give an overview of broad trends in the way the program has dealt with science themes and characters across four decades (1960s, 1970s, 1980s and 2000s), finding significant changes over that period. I then analyse in greater theoretical depth three ways that debates about the democratisation of science manifest within 'Doctor Who'. I show that the program varies in the degree to which it is consistent with the goals for the democratisation of science. First, I investigate plotlines that depict struggles for science governance within societies and that show people trying to achieve democratic outcomes by renegotiating their relationship to science. Within that discussion I show that the literary construct of �the hero� can obstruct democratic outcomes in the struggles for science governance that disenfranchised characters face. In this regard, I link �the hero� to the social construct of �the expert� in real world science, which has also been critiqued as obstructive to democratisation ends. Second, I investigate real-world public dissent to ideologies of science as they are expressed allegorically in the program. Such expressions manifest through themes that counterpose one ideological position on science (such as liberal humanism) to another ideological position (such as technorationalism) in the form of a battle between archetypal characters who embody these principles. Responding to the work of scholars who have elaborated this point, I show that such expressions of dissent to science can be twisted and undermined to serve scientistic ideals through the clever manipulation of the literary imagery that is generally associated with antiscience protest. Third and finally, I investigate the role-modelling function of scientist and non-scientist characters in 'Doctor Who': do they role-model empowered or disempowered positions for audiences within the institution of science? In concert with the literature I show that some structural elements of fiction - including the presence of a fallible scientist hero or an ensemble cast - can contribute positively to the capacity of characters to fulfil a positive role-modelling function that encourages equality in the science workplace and open access to science for all.

The democratisation of science - shifting science governance, work opportunities and ideologies away from the exclusive domains of elite minorities and into the hands of the people - is an important aim of science communication. If communication products such as television series can influence people's relationships with science in terms of their career choices, belief systems and feelings of ownership over science, then it is important for science communicators to understand what television series are saying about science. In this thesis I examine representations of science in the long-running science fiction television series, 'Doctor Who'. In particular I analyse the social, cultural, political and economic aspects of this representation to assess its consistency with four goals for the democratisation of science: goals that I name franchise (lay empowerment in science governance), equality (equal access to opportunities in science workplaces and careers), progress (democratic choice about the role of technology in our lives and our societies) and enlightenment (democratic freedom to choose our beliefs and worldviews about the universe). Analysing the more than 200 'Doctor Who' serials broadcast between 1963 and 2008, I first give an overview of broad trends in the way the program has dealt with science themes and characters across four decades (1960s, 1970s, 1980s and 2000s), finding significant changes over that period. I then analyse in greater theoretical depth three ways that debates about the democratisation of science manifest within 'Doctor Who'. I show that the program varies in the degree to which it is consistent with the goals for the democratisation of science. ...

Economy and mankind are inextricably interlinked. Just as the economy or the production of material wealth is unimaginable without a man, so human existence and development are impossible without the wealth created in the economy. Shortly, both the goal and the means of achieving and realization of the economy are still the human resources. People have long ago noticed that it was the economy that created livelihoods, and the delays in their production led to the catastrophic events such as hunger, poverty, civil wars, social upheavals, revolutions, moral degeneration, and more. Therefore, the special interest of people in understanding the regulatory framework of the functioning of the economy has existed and exists in all historical epochs [A. Sisvadze. Economic theory. Part One. 2006y. p. 22]. The system of economic disciplines studies economy or economic activities of a society. All of them are based on science, which is currently called economic theory in the post-socialist space (the science of economics, the principles of economics or modern economics), and in most countries of the world - predominantly in the Greek-Latin manner - economics. The title of the present book is also Modern Economics. Economics (economic theory) is the science that studies the efficient use of limited resources to produce and distribute goods and services in order to satisfy as much as possible the unlimited needs and demands of the society. More simply, economics is the science of choice and how society manages its limited resources. Moreover, it should be emphasized that economics (economic theory) studies only the distribution, exchange and consumption of the economic wealth (food, beverages, clothing, housing, machine tools, computers, services, etc.), the production of which is possible and limited. And the wealth that exists indefinitely: no economic relations are formed in the production and distribution of solar energy, air, and the like. This current book is the second complete updated edition of the challenges of the modern global economy in the context of the coronary crisis, taking into account some of the priority directions of the country's development. Its purpose is to help students and interested readers gain a thorough knowledge of economics and show them how this knowledge can be applied pragmatically (professionally) in professional activities or in everyday life. To achieve this goal, this textbook, which consists of two parts and tests, discusses in simple and clear language issues such as: the essence of economics as a science, reasons for origin, purpose, tasks, usefulness and functions; Basic principles, problems and peculiarities of economics in different economic systems; Needs and demand, the essence of economic resources, types and limitations; Interaction, mobility, interchangeability and efficient use of economic resources. The essence and types of wealth; The essence, types and models of the economic system; The interaction of households and firms in the market of resources and products; Market mechanism and its elements - demand, supply and price; Demand and supply elasticity; Production costs and the ways to reduce them; Forms of the market - perfect and incomplete competition markets and their peculiarities; Markets for Production Factors and factor incomes; The essence of macroeconomics, causes and importance of origin; The essence and calculation of key macroeconomic indicators (gross national product, gross domestic product, net national product, national income, etc.); Macroeconomic stability and instability, unemployment, inflation and anti-inflationary policies; State regulation of the economy and economic policy; Monetary and fiscal policy; Income and standard of living; Economic Growth; The Corona Pandemic as a Defect and Effect of Globalization; National Economic Problems and New Opportunities for Development in the conditions of the Coronary Crisis; The Socio-economic problems of moral obsolescence in digital technologies; Education and creativity are the main solution way to overcome the economic crisis caused by the coronavirus; Positive and negative effects of tourism in Georgia; Formation of the middle class as a contributing factor to the development of tourism in Georgia; Corporate culture in Georgian travel companies, etc. The axiomatic truth is that economics is the union of people in constant interaction. Given that the behavior of the economy reflects the behavior of the people who make up the economy, after clarifying the essence of the economy, we move on to the analysis of the four principles of individual decision-making. Furtermore, the book describes how people make independent decisions. The key to making an individual decision is that people have to choose from alternative options, that the value of any action is measured by the value of what must be given or what must be given up to get something, that the rational, smart people make decisions based on the comparison of the marginal costs and marginal returns (benefits), and that people behave accordingly to stimuli. Afterwards, the need for human interaction is then analyzed and substantiated. If a person is isolated, he will have to take care of his own food, clothes, shoes, his own house and so on. In the case of such a closed economy and universalization of labor, firstly, its productivity will be low and, secondly, it will be able to consume only what it produces. It is clear that human productivity will be higher and more profitable as a result of labor specialization and the opportunity to trade with others. Indeed, trade allows each person to specialize, to engage in the activities that are most successful, be it agriculture, sewing or construction, and to buy more diverse goods and services from others at a relatively lower price. The key to such human interactions is that trade is mutually beneficial; That markets are usually the good means of coordination between people and that the government can improve the results of market functioning if the market reveals weakness or the results of market functioning are not fair. Moroever, it also shows how the economy works as a whole. In particular, it is argued that productivity is a key determinant of living standards, that an increase in the money supply is a major source of inflation, and that one of the main impediments to avoiding inflation is the existence of an alternative between inflation and unemployment in the short term, that the inflation decrease causes the temporary decline in unemployement and vice versa. The Understanding creatively of all above mentioned issues, we think, will help the reader to develop market economy-appropriate thinking and rational economic-commercial-financial behaviors, to be more competitive in the domestic and international labor markets, and thus to ensure both their own prosperity and the functioning of the country's economy. How he/she copes with the tasks, it is up to the individual reader to decide. At the same time, we will receive all the smart useful advices with a sense of gratitude and will take it into account in the further work. We also would like to thank the editor and reviewers of the books. Finally, there are many things changing, so it is very important to realize that the XXI century has come: 1. The century of the new economy; 2. Age of Knowledge; 3. Age of Information and economic activities are changing in term of innovations. 1. Why is the 21st century the century of the new economy? Because for this period the economic resources, especially non-productive, non-recoverable ones (oil, natural gas, coal, etc.) are becoming increasingly limited. According to the World Energy Council, there are currently 43 years of gas and oil reserves left in the world (see “New Commersant 2007 # 2, p. 16). Under such conditions, sustainable growth of real gross domestic product (GDP) and maximum satisfaction of uncertain needs should be achieved not through the use of more land, labor and capital (extensification), but through more efficient use of available resources (intensification) or innovative economy. And economics, as it was said, is the science of finding the ways about the more effective usage of the limited resources. At the same time, with the sustainable growth and development of the economy, the present needs must be met in a way that does not deprive future generations of the opportunity to meet their needs; 2. Why is the 21st century the age of knowledge? Because in a modern economy, it is not land (natural resources), labor and capital that is crucial, but knowledge. Modern production, its factors and products are not time-consuming and capital-intensive, but science-intensive, knowledge-intensive. The good example of this is a Japanese enterprise (firm) where the production process is going on but people are almost invisible, also, the result of such production (Japanese product) is a miniature or a sample of how to get the maximum result at the lowest cost; 3. Why is the 21st century the age of information? Because the efficient functioning of the modern economy, the effective organization of the material and personal factors of production largely depend on the right governance decision. The right governance decision requires prompt and accurate information. Gone are the days when the main means of transport was a sailing ship, the main form of data processing was pencil and paper, and the main means of transmitting information was sending letters through a postman on horseback. By the modern transport infrastructure (highways, railways, ships, regular domestic and international flights, oil and gas pipelines, etc.), the movement of goods, services and labor resoucres has been significantly accelerated, while through the modern means of communication (mobile phone, internet, other) the information is spreading rapidly globally, which seems to have "shrunk" the world and made it a single large country. The Authors of the book: Ushangi Samadashvili, Doctor of Economic Sciences, Associate Professor of Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University - Introduction, Chapters - 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 9, 10, 11,12, 15,16, 17.1,18 , Tests, Revaz Shengelia, Doctor of Economics, Professor of Georgian Technical University, Chapters_7, 8, 13. 14, 17.2, 17.4; Zhuzhuna Tsiklauri - Doctor of Economics, Professor of Georgian Technical University - Chapters 13.6, 13.7,17.2, 17.3, 18. We also thank the editor and reviewers of the book.