Investigating gendered representations of scientists, technologists, engineers and mathematicians on UK children’s television

Carr, Jennifer; Whitelegg, Liz; Holliman, Richard; Scanlon, Eileen and Hodgson, Barbara (2009). Investigating gendered representations of scientists, technologists, engineers and mathematicians on UK children’s television. In: Holliman, Richard; Whitelegg, Liz; Scanlon, Eileen; Smidt, Sam and Thomas, Jeff eds. Investigating science communication in the information age: Implications for public engagement and popular media. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, pp. 237–252.

URL: http://www.oup.com/uk/catalogue/?ci=9780199552665

Abstract

This chapter provides a critically-informed rationale for some of the qualitative and quantitative methods that can be used to investigate how audiences make sense of science in popular media, in particular in relation to the development of 'self-concept'. These multi-disciplinary authors describe the data collection and analytical methods used in a recent study of children’s reception of science on television. The authors document how they adapted and combined a range of previously used analytical methods to provide a triangulated approach that could take account of the gender and age differences of participants, whilst ensuring that they were an integral part of the research process.