Science Friday Summative Evaluation with Scientist Listeners

Talk of the Nation: Science Friday is a weekly two-hour science talk show hosted by science correspondent Ira Flatow. This summative evaluation implemented by Multimedia Research involved collecting information via a two-sided one-page mailed survey to minority and white scientists in virtually all of Science Friday's broadcast areas in the lower 48 states. Data were collected from September to June, 1999-2000. The main thrust of this evaluation was to explore possible differences in the way ethnic groups (white, black, Spanish-origin) respond to Science Friday. Scientists were chosen as the sample group because they were likely to be listening at a high rate and locating minority scientists who listen was an easier and less expensive task than locating general audience listeners who were minorities. White female scientists were significantly more likely to be Listeners than black or Spanish-background female scientists. Few differences occurred among the ethnic subsamples with respect to their responses about the series itself. White Listeners were significantly more interested than Spanish-origin scientists in Environment and Policy topics, and more interested than black scientists in Earth Science topics. Black listeners were more likely than white respondents to feel that listening to Science Friday prompted them to access an Internet site. Black scientists compared with Spanish-origin respondents were significantly more likely to agree that they have not expanded their knowledge by listening to the series. Thus, overall, the Science Friday series would appear to be as effective with minority groups as with white scientists, with the exception of drawing more white female listeners than minority female listeners.