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Media Culture
Popular science programs on TV as a part of media education: features, types, importance
for the audience
Abstract. The article deals with the peculiarities of scientific cognition on the example of television broadcasts. The importance of popular science television programs for the formation of the outlook and education of spectators is emphasized. The classification of entertaining scientific programs on Ukrainian television is made and explained. The criterion is precisely for science, not for entertainment. Thus, the following types of science-entertainment television programs are distinguished: technical, historical, medical, cognitive, food, religious, and geographic. There was also provided a survey of viewers about their preferences in the field of science entertainment programs. As it turned out, viewers are interested in such programs, but they believe that they lack the evidence, comments of scientists, information about the discoveries, etc. Viewers favour scientific channels, such as Discovery over individual science and entertainment programs.
One of the problems of modern so-called scientific programs is their pseudoscience. In particular, some programs refer to unconfirmed facts, do not submit arguments to their allegations, and ignore the methods of scientific knowledge. Such programs need to be eradicated from the mediaspace. There are also given recommendations to TV channels on popular science programs, their forms and content, as well as viewers on verification of factual data of programs. Because it is the increased mediaeducation and media literacy that will help to eliminate the pseudoscience from TV screens.
Keywords: popular science programs, pseudoscience, viewers, survey, mediaeducation
Introduction
Any television program or film affects on the education of a person and shapes his views on the world around him. The cultural and educational function of television performs, for example, the broadcast of any cultural events: performances, concerts, and television films. Speaking about the promotion of the audience to art by methods of television, of course, it should be recognized: for a huge number of people - this is almost the only opportunity to get acquainted with certain art works, and even more -sto look behind the scenes of their creation. Of course, these programs are based on the canons of drama and harmony, they show works of art with comments by writers, musicians, artists and art critics. This is done in a form that is accessible to the perception of the viewer, not depending on whether he had or did not have experience and knowledge in this field.
The difficult task is to cover purely scientific topics. Modern science is constantly evolving: on the one hand, there is a process of its differentiation, on the other - integration, new scientific concepts are formed, the language of the sciences changes, new concepts and terms appear in it. In order to reveal the essence of scientific knowledge and competently analyze the development of technological progress, there are a number of educational and popular science
Dr. Mariana Kitsa,
Department of Journalism and Mass Communication, National University «Lviv Polytechnic», Koshytsya str. 7/42, Lviv, 79058, Ukraine, E-mail: [email protected]
films (programs) that are a direct confirmation of the existence of the educational function of television.
In a world that has entered a period of continuous unparalleled scientific and technological progress, the search for opportunities to raise the level of awareness of society about the research and cultural achievements of scientists is becoming more and more important from day to day. The popularization of science has become a very widespread area of knowledge, which is a state property and belongs to the key of national priorities of world powers. One of the main metods of popularizing science, of course, is the popular science television and popular science television programs in particular.
The actuality of work is determined by the need to create and popularize popular science programs on television in order to increase the interest, awareness and intellectual development of citizens. Thus it is necessary the viewers to be mediaeducated while watching science programs, because often they can have pseudoscientific meaning. The object of our study is the scientific and popular science programs that appeared on the air of Ukrainian television channels from 2010 to 2017. By the task we put: to work out the theoretical basis on the subject of research; to study the content of Ukrainian TV channels for the presence of science-entertainment TV programs; to select and describe research methods; to develop a questionnaire for revealing the interest of the audience in popular science programs on television; to make recommendations for TV channels and viewers.
Materials and methods
The history of the national science-and-pop television is dramatic: under the brisk prosperity that lasted in Soviet times, popular science television turned into a deep crisis that lasted from post-reconstruction times and is still in the present. The high level of social significance of the popularization of science requires an early search for ways to overcome the crisis in this direction, creating conditions for its revival, and makes it necessary to study the development of Ukrainian popular scientific broadcasting.
The beginning of the study of popular science television in our country was laid several decades ago in an era of active development of science in society and the flourishing of scientific direction on the Soviet screen. Everyday television practice was accompanied by systematic scientific reflection, the emergence of theoretical studies, which formulated the subject, tasks, functions of scientific popularization by means of television, featured the genres of popular science programs, highlighted the quality criteria of popular science projects, reflected in the works of Y.G. Bagirov, I. A Vasil'kova, V.V. Yegorova, N.B Volman, V.M. Zhdana, A.M. Zguridy, I.V Sepman, A. Fedorov, A. Levitskaya, H. Shiller, S. Roy and others.
The sharp decline in the number of studies devoted to the science-popular television of the country begins with the beginning of the 1990's. In the post-reconstruction times, marked by a change in our state's attitudes toward science and the status of a scientist, the change in political leaders and social orientations led to a decline in the rate of development of science, which was accompanied by "ride" of many experts to other countries in search of opportunities for the implementation of scientific ideas. Along with this, there was a significant depletion of popular science broadcasting, which meant a reduction of practical material on theoretical research, and, as a result, the decline of the interest of domestic television theorists in the scientific direction. During the period of the development of popular scientific broadcasting in the post-Soviet information space of the country, isolated attempts were made to popularize the television, and in the complex the problems of popularizing science on television were almost not considered [Golyadkin, 2004].
With the development of journalism in the press, radio and on television, a new form of comprehension of the concept of the genre of scientific popularization arose. But no matter what corrections did not implement the definition of this concept, there is always one regularity: the
unity of providing form for the leading role of content. For example, when science-popular programs use elements of the drama, attract actors, fragments of films, this transmission does not cease to be popular science. What is the principle of the distribution of genres? The main principle - the nature of the image of the life process, the level of its complexity, the degree of penetration into the inner world of man.
The genre diversity of the popular science television program is in thematic, scientific diversity: first of all, it follows from the creation of transmissions, in which one can determine the original form of filing material on the news of science with the achievement of maximum efficiency of a particular transmission, film, popular science broadcast in general.
During the years of restructuring, science-popular television acquired new features: more attention was paid to both fundamental and applied sciences, problems of the implementation of scientific achievements, discoveries and inventions in life [Birta, 2014]. For a clear understanding of the features of popular science television, one must see the distinction between educational and popular science programs.
Educational TV program, film - is a part of visual aids made by methods of television for those who are studying this or that scientific discipline within the existing educational programs of school, university, advanced training system [Bybee, 1997]. Educational programs and television films are created for the help of those who systematically study a particular scientific discipline in the context of existing curricula. Unlike popular science and documentary chronicles, these films are designed not only for the universal, but also for the special audience with the obligatory use of methodical instructions for the preparation of scenarios [Fedorov et. al, 2017].
Educational TV is a TV program that updates and deepens the knowledge of the viewer, aims to help self-study in the system of specific knowledge in a particular field, culture, production, art, social life. The educational television program leads the viewer from one topic to another in a certain sequence, based on the logic and history of scientific knowledge.
Scientific-popular programs, television films, in contrast to programs in educational institutions and educational television programs, have the task of promoting classical and new achievements and traditions of discoveries of science and technology, are created taking into account the original scenario with the help of the role of the participants (consultants) of specialists in a certain field of knowledge.
The tasks of popular science television are wide and diverse. They are called to inform about the most important events in the world of science and technology; to promote new methods of organization of production, the latest scientific achievements; to organize the struggle for new scientific ideas, directions, inventions; educate and teach (educational television); to cultivate aesthetic tastes (programs about music, literature, theater, painting, etc.); to entertain (interesting information, quizzes, trips, scientific sensations.); to form a person in a complex way [Schneider, 2006].
The main purpose of popular science television is the formation of a scientific picture of the world, a scientific outlook. In science there is an active process of integration of scientific disciplines. There are interdisciplinary sciences (cybernetics), mixed disciplines (neurocybernetics, psycholinguistics, physiological psychology, mathematical, etc.). There is a convergence of natural and humanitarian sciences. The scientific and technological revolution puts forward a number of difficulties, including the problem of personality, control processes of production, economics, etc. [Press et al., 2003]. The personal approach in television shows on that scientific topics should manifest itself vividly and actively.
In our article the influence of popular science programs on the mass consciousness is investigated by an empirical method - a survey. Poll is a method of collecting social information about the object under study during a direct (interviewing) or indirect (questioning) of socio-psychological communication between a sociologist and a respondent through the registration of
respondents' answers to the formulated questions. Accordingly, the questionnaire is a replicated, ordered form and content of a set of questions in the form of a questionnaire. The questionnaire has a significant advantage: the poll is as formalized as possible, and thus provides a high degree of comparability of information and their machine processing; the questionnaire takes less time than an interview, does not require the involvement of a large number of people who carry it out, questionnaires can be distributed through the administration or sent by post; the requirement of anonymity of responses is met, which increases their reliability [Kuzmenko, 2010].
To study the effect of scientific knowledge on a particular viewer, we used the method of deduction. Deduction is a method of scientific knowledge, through which, based on more general provisions, they receive less common, partial, or even individual ones [Bilukha, 2002]. Thanks to deduction, they obtain reliable knowledge, therefore deductive is often called the necessary inferences. Modern science takes into account the dialectical relationship of induction and deduction. Simulation is a method of studying objects on their models. Construction of models of objects and phenomena is carried out with the aim of their more thorough study, rationalization of the methods of their construction, influence on them, etc. The forms of models are diverse and depend on many circumstances, in particular, on the scope of their application.
Discussion
Television takes an active part in advocating scientific and technological achievements. Everything that can be useful to production, novelties of domestic and foreign science and technology, scientific works, expanding the horizons, raise the culture and qualifications of staff, are reflected in the transmissions of popular science television.
For science-popular TV programs, the aim is to reveal the essence of such components of modern scientific and technological progress as the introduction of new technical principles, materials and technological processes into the crucial areas of production; creation of new branches of industry: electronic, atomic, synthetic materials; differentiation and integration of sciences. "But in the sense of mass propaganda of science it is impossible to identify science with a message about it," says the well-known popularizer of science, which leads TV program "The obvious - incredible", Professor S.P. Kapitsa. It is impossible to replace the study of science with the reading of the journal "Science and Life"; one should not think that, while reviewing the transfer of science, one can learn something specifically. People need to be taught in the old way, from books, lectures, in laboratories, through personal contact with people using TB as an auxiliary tool [Samartsev, 1998].
Applied auxiliary functions of popular science programs are summarized here:
- Function of distributing technical information.
- Function of formation of public opinion in connection with the decision of the actual scientific problem. Such is, for example, the problem of environmental protection from harmful emissions from industry.
Academician I. Petryanov-Sokolov, who appeared in the program "Science today", believes that no emergency protective measures, no cleaner cleaning structures are sufficient to solve this problem [Chomsky, 2003]. It is only necessary that in the minds of all, on whom the fundamental change in the technology of industrial production depends, there was a breakthrough in order for Ukrainian scientists, specialists, workers, administrators to be concerned about the urgency of creating a new technology.
Educational function, which consists in the fact that popular science programs such as "Science today", "Man. Earth. Universe "," Health" and others expand the horizons of the part of viewers who do not deal with these problems.
In the propagation of relevant scientific problems, transmission associated with the development of space is of particular importance. The experience of domestic television
coverage of the joint flights of cosmonauts from different countries enriched popular science television with new forms of dissemination of scientific knowledge.
Popular science propaganda methods of television are largely due to the peculiarities of human perception of information. So, in the development of knowledge, especially natural sciences, people must learn to think concepts, while television is able to distribute information in images. The search and creation of an optimal combination of conceptual and figurative methods of science propaganda is, in essence, the creative process of creating a popular science television program. The search for a combination of both ways of information on television depends on the installation of the transmission, which is subject to the logical principles of the consistent presentation of scientific data with the presence of aesthetic and emotional elements. These features of the conceptual nature, on our mind, lie at the basis of determining the genres of popular science programs.
At an early stage of development, the popular science television was concerned only with the material of scientific personnel and paintings. At least its development has been obtained from the ability to cover the course of scientific experiments, and not only in earth laboratories, but also in space [Carrol, 2005]. Each comment accompanying such a TV show, becomes the first stage in understanding this or that event, the discovery in science. Television allows a scholar-commentator to widely use of charts, fragments from motion pictures, slides, photographs, posters, and with the consolidation of details that sometimes play a decisive role in understanding the problem and its solution.
Kokanovsky V. says that specific methods of popular science television are research surveys, often with the help of a microscope, dynamic and static diagrams, reconstruction of the fact, staging [Kokanovsky, 1999]. One of the most popular modern genres of popular science television is the conversation. A conversation in a television studio, in a laboratory at a research institute can occur between two or three scientists who are interested in solving common problems, and between scientists (scholars) and a scientific commentator, a journalist, who must look for his task in order to achieve the maximum of popularity in the presentation of the material. If one of the most important answers of scientists is the need to clarify the difficult problem, then such a conversation can be illustrated with movie frames, schemes, multi-decks. Science-popular TV uses different genres: a report from a scientific laboratory, a shop, interview with scientists and others. It is also widely used genre of television excursions with the participation of a specialist. The telecourse with the halls of museums, exhibition halls, memorable places give millions of people the opportunity to see the treasures of Ukrainian Mysticism, spiritual and material culture.
The display of one or another historical event, the reproduction of images of heroes, paintings can be carried out with the help of popular science staging, which should be solved so that the authenticity and documentation of the broadcast itself is not violated, and a leading specialist (a scientist or statesman or another specialist on the problem under investigation ) could chat with the actors. Experts can comment on the scenario, to present the data, leaving it, but to participate in it. The literary scenario of such a transmission should include both dramatic art of instagrams and figuratively-meaningful, reliable combination of artistic elements of the transmission with the performances of its true members, scientists, and specialists of the national economy.
Scientific-popular television film, in contrast to the chronicle-documentary, has its own task of advocating achievements, discoveries of science and technology, is based on the original scenario with the help of specialists in a certain field of knowledge as participants (consultants). Note that it would be wrong to relate such programs, already in the form of television programs, to the genre of artistic, but not popular science programs. The defining feature in it is not the form, but all the content, the subject of the transfer and the author's tasks. If for the purpose of
popularizing the scientific problem the techniques of artistic television are used, the transmission equally remains popular science.
An interesting genre of popular science is the quiz - a question in the form of a game. The structure of this genre opens up wide opportunities for the propagation of scientific knowledge. The quiz consists of questions and answers, that is entertainment, in which the viewer broadens his worldview. An important feature is that it awakens the activity of the audience, promotes the development of curiosity, stimulates independent searches in one or another field of knowledge. All this creates a favorable ground for scientific popularization.
A television program or a television contest is an artistic, journalistic complex and multigenre transmission, the source of which is in improvisation and game elements with the help of cinematic fragments, theatrical and musical numbers, and sometimes also home-made audiences. The basis of the creation of a television quiz is a literary script (script plan) and directorial development of both the transmission in general and the design of its individual components. Due to the complexity of modern science, a popular statement of its achievements in various fields is very difficult, so a special role begins in the form, genre of transmission or film.
With the development of journalism in the press, broadcast, and subsequently television there was a new need for an understanding of the concept of the genre of scientific popularization. But no matter what corrections did not implement the definition of this concept, there is always one regularity: the unity of methods and forms for the leading role of content.
In addition to science and entertainment programs, on television screens for the last decade there were also so-called pseudoscientific TV programs. Pseudoscience arose in the period of rapid development of science and concerned especially those areas of science, which are based on the union of ideas and methods of various sciences [Naidysha, 2008]. Signs of pseudoscience can be defined as follows: the idea is put forward, deprived of theoretical and experimental argument, which is in isolation from the logic of the development of science. At the same time, in this idea lies a big claim - the pseudo-obsessed is taken for "world" problems and promises to revolutionize both science and practice. Sources of pseudoscience: dilettantism and ignorance, neglect by harsh concepts and experiences, ignoring the prior development of science. Psychologically, "pseudo-science is determined by uncontrollable arrogance, or fanaticism, with unscrupulous careerism" [Sorensen, 1993].
To the scientific statements a person is treated as an unquestioningly truthful information that is not subject to appeal, is an axiom. But is it so easy to distinguish pseudoscience from science? In the modern world, more people believe in astrology than in the Middle Ages [Rutkevich, 1997].
The concepts of science and pseudoscience are not contradictory, but opposite concepts. They exclude each other, but together do not exhaust the set of theoretical concepts that claim to explain and understand the circle of phenomena they are investigating [Paryko, 2010]. Pseudoscience is harmful because it creates the appearance of an explanation and understanding of those phenomena that can not be explained and understood.
To the pseudoscience there are theoretical concepts, which in principle, are not compatible with science. Pseudosciences are extremely diverse, but their common feature is that each pseudo-science clearly contradicts the basic requirements of the scientific method, uses absolutely different, than in science, categories, does not take into account the leading ideals of science, neglects the principles of scientific substantiation and scientific critique, etc. So it is very important for the viewers to understand the difference between science and pseudoscience concepts so as not to be misled.
Unlike pseudoscientific types of cognition, scientific knowledge involves an explanation and understanding of the phenomena under investigation, often the search for regularities in the studied area, requires strict evidence, a clear and objective description of the facts in the form of a harmonious and consistent theory. Science should not be opposed to practical knowledge, since
social and human sciences are based on life experience, and life experience itself is expressed in the form of traditions, beliefs, authority, common sense, etc [Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2016].
In the pseudoscience we can distinguish features that distinguish it from science and give it concrete:
1. In the absence of falsification of scientific facts or results of an experiment, in a pseudoscience there may also be a simple impossibility to put an experiment whose result could confirm or refute a certain theory; the replacement of such a method of checking appeals to common sense or "authoritative point of view" of a person from the non-academic environment.
2. The appeal of scientific simulators is not to the scientific community (since the latter are more or less ignored), but to the media, which, on the contrary, create "shocking" sensations, distorting the proper outlook of the average spectator, which, in addition, may be far from science, or mass non-specialized publications and various fiction, filled with pseudoscience concepts and which seems to be based on real events.
3. Intentional ignoring and strangling of facts of objective reality or adequate scientific research, which do not fit into the construction of the author's theory or capable of reducing it to nothing. Moreover, as has been shown earlier, for modern pseudoscience, a feature of earlier admission of mythological, religious, political units and components into research work is a characteristic feature [Sagan, 2014].
4. The use of terminology, which is determined by speculative and often subjective (author's) constructs, which do not have a place in the real scientific world picture, nor in any way fixed by scientific instruments of cognition as a whole.
5. The claim of such discipline to uncompromisingness, "revolutionary" and quick unpredictable positive effects, which are not (and will be, incapable of many years) to reach the official science that exists outside the narrow circle of representatives of this discipline.
6. On the basis of the preceding paragraph, another tendency becomes logical, namely, the "attempt to present the author of this concept as a victim of "official science", which works for the benefit of humanity, and due to the intentional intentions and envy of representatives of "official science", the author can not fully work for humanity, because they are not heard or perceived" [Paryko, 2010].
Therefore, based on the above, we can refer to television pseudoscience programs with hypnosis, astrology, and so on. As an example, we can name programs "Molfar" on the "1 + 1", "Battle of Psychics" on "STB", "Investigate lead psychics" on the same "STB", etc. These TV programs are not scientific, rather pseudoscientific, so they do not belong to the object of our research.
Results
Since 2010, there have been few scientific and entertainment programs on Ukrainian television. After conducting a content analysis of programs of Ukrainian television channels from 2010, we have identified the following groups of science and entertainment programs on the subject: medical: "School of Dr. Komarovsky" (1 + 1, Inter), "Formula of Health" (TRC Lviv), "Healthy I" (First national), "I'm ashamed of my body" (STB), "Fashion Health" (Channel 5). In the following group, we identified historical programs:"In Search of Truth "(STB)," The Secret Code of Faith "( 1 + 1), "Ukraine: Forgotten History" (TV channel Mega, 2010-2013); geographic: "Eagle and Rescue" (Inter, K1), "I Love Ukraine" (1 + 1, 2013-2015) food ("Life" (1 + 1, 2010-2013), cognitive "Millionaire" (Inter , 2013.) The percentage of scientific and popular direction in these programs is different, mainly in the direction of the increase of the popular and entertaining component, but if there were at least a small part of the scientific content in the television programs, we singled out this program as a popular science and included it in our classification.
Table 1. Scientific and entertainment programs on Ukrainian television
Title Topic Channel Year of release
School of Doctor Komarovsky medical 1 + 1, Inter 2010-2017
Health Formula medical TRC Lviv 2010-2017
Health medical First National 2010-2017
I am ashamed of my body medical STB 2013-2017
Fashionable Health medical Channel 5 2016-2017
In search of truth historical STB 2013-2017
The secret code of faith historically religious 1 + 1 2017
Ukraine: Forgotten History historical Mega 2012-2013
Eagle and Seagate geographic Inter, K1 2012-2017
I love Ukraine geographic 1 + 1 2013-2015
Life without food food 1 + 1 2015-2017
Food Quality Label food Inter 2013-2017
Small giants cognitive 1 + 1 2015
The most intelligent cognitive 1 + 1 2010-2013
Millionaire cognitive Inter 2013
In order to determine which science-popular TV programs viewers like / dislike and would like to improve, we have developed a questionnaire of 8 questions and passport parts. The questionnaire contained open, closed and mixed-type questions. Closed questions consist of a question and a fixed number of responses. Among the answers to the responses is a neutral answer - "I do not know", "difficult to answer". Closed question is mono-mathematical, that is, the answer to it captures the respondent's attitude to a particular phenomenon. In closed questions, the respondent is provided with a full set of answer options, offering a choice of one or more of them. Closed questions are divided into alternatives (when it is necessary to choose only one answer variant) and non-alternative ("question-menus", which allow selection of several variants of answers).
The following questions were used in the compilation of questionnaires:
- facts of consciousness (identification of thoughts, wishes, expectations, plans for the future, etc.). Any ideas shown at the same time are evaluative thoughts and are subjective;
- facts of behavior (actions, actions, results of activity);
- socio-demographic (issues that identify gender, age, nationality, education, professional, family status);
- to identify the level of awareness and knowledge (exam questions that contain tasks, experimental or gaming situations, the decisions of which require the respondent's certain knowledge, skills, as well as acquaintance with concrete facts, events, names).
We interviewed different age groups of people. So, according to the quota principle, 250 people of the following age categories were chosen: Group 1 - 12-17 years old (schoolchildren); Group 2 - 18-25 years old (mostly students); Group 3 - 26-45 years (working people); Group 4 - 46 - 65 (working and retired). The total population of the study is 800 people.
Such a sample was made possible by the targeted selection of respondents in places of their frequent stay (study / work). In particular, schoolchildren were interviewed at schools, selecting 500 students from different classes at the request and with the consent of children and teachers;
students - in higher education institutions of different courses and specialties, in particular journalists (from 1 to 5 courses), lawyers (in different courses), economists (in different courses) and students of the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics (also in different courses). The third group of researchers was also selected according to their place of work and employment. In particular, 150 people were teachers from different specialties - journalists (20), physicians (50), economists (20), lawyers (20), historians (20), psychologists (20).
The elderly and pensioners (150) were interviewed mostly on the street, in particular in the banks' premises, at the entrance to schools / kindergartens, in the central part of the city. Regarding the professional employment of this group of people, it is quite difficult to say. In the questionnaire, these individuals indicated themselves as a pensioner, a housewife, not working, etc. However, 110 people from this group indicated their belonging to a particular profession -they are teachers (40), accountants (20), librarians (10), engineers (20), private entrepreneurs (20). In terms of gender, 400 women and 400 men were interviewed. Such a division is due to the fact that it were the women who were more willing to answer the questions, but we tried to ensure the maximum proportional representation of the persons of both sexes.
Questionnaires were handed out to the respondents, sometimes explaining the substance of the question and possible answers. Thus, there was no loss of questionnaires or damage to them. Also, there are no blanked questionnaires left.
In order to receive responses from respondents in accordance with the requirements of a non-random sample, 1000 questionnaires were distributed in total, according to which the results of the study were calculated.
When answers were received from all respondents, according to the selected sample criteria, it was possible to sum up the questionnaires of all groups of respondents. With Microsoft Excell, using the formula, the average rate for all responses was determined.
Consequently, when asked whether the viewers are watching science-pop programs, 89% of the respondents gave a positive answer. So the following group of questions concerned these particular respondents. Instead, for those respondents who do not watch popular science programs, they were asked to explain their choices. Thus, among 11% of the general population, 4% answered that they have no time, another 6% - that they are not interested in such programs, while 1% of persons stated that such programs do not exist. Sixty persons who were not interested in the programs indicated that they were not satisfied with the subject of these broadcasts, the same number stated that they did not trust such broadcasts, and the same number of respondents indicated that they were not interested in science and entertainment programs.
As to what science and entertainment programs they would like to see, 52% said that it should be a program of technology and production, 11% - of space. Others didn't write the answer on this question. Also, 66% of the respondents stressed that it does not matter to them, on what channels these broadcasts are broadcast and in what language (in Ukrainian or Russian). In general, people who do not watch science-entertainment programs are fifty men and ten woman of one age group - 26-45 years old, who are representatives of various professions.
The remaining questions were addressed to those 89% of respondents viewing science and entertainment programs. When asked how often they watch such programs, 43% answered -once a week, 26% - daily, 21% - occasionally, on average once a month. It is interesting, that the respondents are mostly not watching the programs that we have selected based on the results of the content analysis. So, 76% indicated the "How is it done" program, which is broadcasted on the Russian version of the Discovery channel, another 11% indicated the program "Legend Destroyers" on the same Discovery and only 2% of the respondents mentioned the program "Territory of deception" and "In the world of animals". This question was open-ended, that is, the respondents themselves included the popular science programs they are viewing.
Table 2. Audience Interest for popupar science program
Do you watch popular science programs?
□ Watch
□ Have no time to watch
□ Are not interested
□ Such programs do not exist
Instead, the next question relates to those transmissions that we highlighted in our classification. All 89% of respondents indicated that they had seen the indicated programs. 53% of the respondents indicated that they often see the program "Eagle and Rescue" among the proposed ones. Another 24% mentioned the program "Territory of deception" and 12% see the TV program "School of Dr. Komarovsky" (all - female representatives, age group - 25-45 years). Concerning the trust of viewers in the information they receive from popular science programs, all 89% trust the information on the Discovery TV channel, while TV programs on Ukrainian television are trusted much less.
So, 47% of respondents say that science-popular programs on Ukrainian television are insufficiently evidentiary, another 21% answered that they doubted the reliability of data from these programs, and the same number of viewers could not answer this question.
As for methods for improving the content of science-popular popular programs, the respondents replied as follows:
34% - want popular science programs to be more scientific than entertainment; 26% - would like to learn about modern scientific developments in popular science programs; 24% - believe that popular science programs should include more comments from academics, eyewitnesses than journalists;
16% - noted that popular science programs should concern mostly technical sciences and scientific discoveries.
It is also interesting, that this advisies doesn't matter from the gender of the respondents. Men and women gave similar answers in proportional percentages.
Table 3. Audience opinions about the improvement of popupar science program
How to improve the content of the popular science programs?
6%
To be more scientific
34%
24%
□ To broadcast modern science developments
DTo include comments
scientists
To concern on discoveries
26%
When asked about the impact of medical science programs on Ukrainian television, 54% said that such programs inspired fear of illness, another 32% said that such programs should not be broadcast on television channels, and only 3% believe that such programs have a positive
It is interesting that respondents' answers did not depend too much on age, gender and professional characteristics. Only the answers mostly about the medical sphere and about the revision of the popular science program "School of Dr. Komarovsky" differed according to the passport characteristic.
In the research we found out that viewers of popular science programs have a higher level of trust in programs that are broadcasted on specialized TV channels such as Discovery. We can also state the following:
• Viewers are generally interested in popular science programs. Only a small percentage of viewers are not interested in them due to lack of time or lack of programs that would satisfy them by subject;
• Television programs that are considered as popular in Ukrainian television are not perceived by viewers as such.
• The viewers of Ukrainian TV channels are mostly looking at those popular science programs that have a larger percentage of entertainment than scientific, such as "The Eagle and the Rescue" and "The School of Dr. Komarovsky".
• The audience has mostly negative associations with the Ukrainian science-popular television programs (except for the "School of Dr. Komarovsky").
According to the results of the survey, we also found out that men are more critical of popular science programs. In our opinion, this is what media managers use when determining the audience for TV projects, focusing mainly on the female audience. Instead, the male group would prefer to watch scientific discoveries in space, physical, engineering spheres. It is also necessary to emphasize that in the average figures, no category of respondents indicated their satisfaction with the content of popular science programs on Ukrainian television.
In our opinion, this means a high level of social interest in science, not entertainment. In the Ukrainian media space, there are fewer scientific popular genres. The media does not fulfill its educational function, providing only entertainment. Among the media, television is now one
effect.
of the most popular. It can also be argued that other media, such as radio and printed periodicals, surpassed the level of their influence on the development of the television community. Television propagating certain values is one of the factors in the education of society. Instead, as we see from the result of the survey, television only blurs the notion of the real world, hinders the reading of books, impedes the formation of socialization, development of thinking, argumentation, communication, replaces other productive activities of the population.
In our opinion, the values that need to be promoted first of all - the acquisition of science and technology, their popularization. Only thanks to this society develops and competes on the world stage. Instead, in such conditions, viewers can gravitate toward pseudoscientific television programs, considering them to be scientific, which may be interesting only in the entertainment aspect, which in its turn, does not carry any development in itself.
Economic, and thus other indicators of prosperity and state success are estimated, among others, and scientific achievements, number of scientists and inventors. Now in the world among the states the technical competition has come to the fore.
So, if people want scientific information, and they offer only entertaining content, what consequences can be expected?
Conclusions
The scientific picture of the world is changing every day: new studies, discoveries both in other countries and in Ukraine are taking place. But the level of awareness of people with nontechnical education is not too broad, the interest in science is rather low. Ukrainian media should perform educational function and create a sufficient level of awareness among the audience, thanks to programs and popular science channels such as Discovery. But the practice shows another: popular science programs on Ukrainian television almost do not exist, and the only channel that positions itself as the first science-entertainment channel in Ukraine, prefers anti-scientific information that only undermines the authority of official science.
Based on theoretical and empirical research, we propose the following:
- It is necessary to broadcast scientifically popular TV programs on the television channels of Ukrainian television. They have an audience demand.
- Such programs should contain a large percentage of scientific knowledge, less entertainment.
- Audience is interested in new developments in the field of science and technology, space discoveries, developments in the field of electronics, robotics, etc.
- Programs on medical topics are ambiguously perceived by the audience; therefore, in the aspect of popular science content, information on new methods of treatment and diagnosis of diseases, medical discoveries, latest developments, and not about the characteristics of diagnoses and treatment and the statistics of alarming diseases should be provided in such programs.
- Popular science programs are better perceived on specialized channels than in the program of general thematic TV channels. Therefore, it's worth creating a television channel like Discovery in the Ukrainian format.
- Popular science programs are a segment of television content that brings together viewers of all ages, gender and professional employment, so this factor should be taken into account when preparing such television programs.
- Based on the previous position, popular science programs should be broadcasted on the weekends when the whole family is at home.
- In those programs that are treated in Ukrainian television as popular science, it is worth adding more arguments, scientific base and results of scientific research.
- It is not worthwhile to replace scientific-popular programs with pseudo-scientific transmissions, because it misleads the society, disinforms and leads to degradation.
In general, popular science programs are the direction, genre, type of transmission that can provide high ratings of the channel with the right choice of methods and tools. In the world ranking, popular science programs include 10 top-rated programs. In particular, in 2016, the science-popular program "Destroyers of Myths" took 2nd position, and "Who wants to become a millionaire" - 10th in the rating of television shows in the United States. On Ukrainian television, it would be worthwhile to create authentic scientific and popular programs, because Ukrainian operations began to develop rapidly, especially in the field of electronics, technology, medicine, because of military actions in our country. Such topics will interest both ordinary spectators and participants in hostilities, which are sometimes just awaiting new discoveries in these areas.
In addition, it would be possible to create popular science programs on military topics, which would increase the awareness of the audience in this area. The main thing - to be based on research, discoveries, and not on an entertaining component.
Unfortunately, on Ukrainian television, scientific broadcasts are often replaced by pseudoscientists, seeking to attract audience attention due to sensationalism. However, such an approach is not justified and not very effective, because, as the results of our study showed, respondents are well oriented in what programs are truly scientific.
Each viewer chooses what to view and what does not. Everyone has their own tastes and preferences. But we are convinced that few of the viewers, even if they hurt the transmission of their views, would be deceived by the information received during its viewing. Each spectator himself must put in place appropriate "filters" for perception of information. However, if some idea is repeated many times, people begin to believe in it, even if it is a lie of pure water. Consequently, "viewers should continue to be skeptical about sensational pseudo-scientific programs, and to give preference to those based on proven facts and the use of scientific methods of cognition" [Sorensen, 1993] programs that we have identified as popular are not perceived by viewers as such. After all, they have little scientific and educational knowledge. Instead, viewers favor programs on the Discovery foreign channel.
In Ukraine, the TV channel "MEGA" compares itself to the BBC, National Geographic, History Channel, Discovery, Animal Planet and is considered to be the first science-entertainment channel in Ukraine. A television channel about a year ago presented the program "Nauka.UA", which talked about young inventors and their developments, about the potential of Ukraine as a country where scientific activity develops. So, one of the editions told about a special gloves that adapted the language of the gestures into our familiar language. We can compare this program with the Internet project "Made in Ukraine". There were no analogues on Ukrainian television.
The science-popular program is the project "Mysteries of the Universe", one of the last issues of which described the emergence of the Superstar. Everything is great, if you close your eyes to the fact that it is the transfer of not own production, but the American, which has the original name "The Universe (History)" and is not produced by our directors (Luis Tarantino, Douglas Cohen). It is good that they translated the program into Ukrainian, and not allowed to broadcast with subtitles.
Instead, today the viewer can watch an enormous number of pseudo-scientific, anti-scientific programs: a documentary series "Secret Territories" that tries to prove the existence of such anti-scientific phenomena as UFOs or ghosts (the release on May 18, 2015 was devoted to the capabilities of the human body, the existence which has never been scientifically proven during the investigation); the science-entertainment show "Mystic Ukraine", for whom the entertainment show is more than scientifically verified information, the percentage is 90. The release, which was shown on May 17, 2015, was devoted to the molds. It is said that the molphas have their origins from the Celtic druids, but no documented reliable sources of the author's suggestions. In fact, nothing bad in such a show would not have been if it did not undermine the authority of official medicine. The viewers convinced that modern medical methods of treatment
"do not take into account the mystical connection between man and nature", medicine seeks solution in the physiological features of the organism, and not on the peaks of the human soul. Meanwhile, more and more doctors talk about the fatal consequences of self-medication and treatment with non-traditional medicine.
One can conclude that such transmissions can not be called scientific, scientific, cognitive, or scientific-entertaining, not because their content does not correspond to the basic framework of the scientific picture of the world, but because they are dangerous for human life: its physical and moral health 'I.
Maybe the media sees their main function not to inform and educate, but to make money on entertainment shows that are masked for certain types of programs but have the same essence.
"Well, finally, the information should be ... so that people could work in scientific institutions," said B. Paton in his interview for the "Ukraine Science" project. It is necessary to continue this thought: there must be some kind of information, some popular science programs, so that people can raise their level of awareness. This is the main task of TV channels: to provide information. But its not easy to find among the variety of entertainment shows and news releases. So the most reliable opportunity to improve the quality of the scientific programs is to increase the level of medialiteracy and mediaeducation of the viewers, so that they could differ science from pseudoscience.
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