The Political Context of Scientific Data: Understanding the Value Public Officials Place on Knowledge (SciValue)

Poster Submission

“The Political Context of Scientific Data: Understanding the Value Public Officials Place on Knowledge (SciValue)” Kimberly Douglass, Suzie Allard, Carol Tenopir (SIS), and Michael Fitzgerald (Political Science/Howard Baker, Jr. Center for Public Policy) Contact: Kimberly Douglass – kdougla2@utk.edu

Abstract This poster reports on the SciValue project, a tool in a broader research agenda that examines the interface between science and public policy.

SciValue speaks to the notion that science faces increasingly complex questions. These grand challenges require computational and collaborative tools through vast cyberinfrastructures. SciValue examines the information sources members of the U.S. Congress consult when making decisions about scientific infrastructures. While Congress regulates research practices and holds authority over federal funding for such projects, members lack the tools needed for forward thinking at this scale. SciValue is a roadmap for qualitative research that will address these issues.

SciValue is a work-in-progress. Investigators will conduct interviews of key policy actors, including Congressional staff and analyze transcripts of Congressional proceedings. While investigators want to understand Congressional members’ willingness to fund cyberinfrastructures, it is also important to understand the value members attach to scientific data itself. Understanding the political will behind such projects is a critical first step towards creating awareness of the needs of science.

This proposed work links several research domains – science, information science, and public policy. It is also helping forge a link between the College of Communication and Information and the Howard Baker, Jr. Center for Public Policy.

While holding implications for cyberinfrastructures, this project also advances the science, technology, and society (STS) literature. STS authoritatively prescribes policies for legislative bodies. However, Congress’ actual use of these prescriptions is largely unsubstantiated. SciValue examines how support, or lack thereof, for cyberinfrastructures is socially constructed in legislative processes.