Social Scientists Meet the Media

This volume examines the troubled relationship between social scientists and the media and does so from the perspectives of both parties. Given their different priorities, it is not surprising that problems arise when social scientists work with the media in the process of research dissemination. The book is comprised of the personal accounts of social scientists who have had extensive contact with the media--their experiences range from good to bad to disastrous. The academics who contributed to this volume have conducted research on a wide range of topics including education, stress, football hooliganism, intelligence, risk factors for illness, drug use, performance appraisal in universities, politics, sex, religion, terrorism, youth culture and media studies. Also included are chapters from three well-known media practitioners in which they express their views of how social scientific research is portrayed in the media. The contributors offer practical suggestions for social scientistswho want to work more effectively with the media and thereby reach a wider audience. Contributors include Robert Burgess, Cary L. Cooper, Eric Dunning, Hans J. Eysenck, Helen Haste, Dennis Howitt, Graham Murdock, Jane Ussher, Paul Wilkinson, Peter Evans, Martin Freeth and Oliver Gillie.