An Analysis of Science Blogging Practices Paige Brown Jarreau Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, [email protected]
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Louisiana State University LSU Digital Commons LSU Doctoral Dissertations Graduate School 2015 All the Science That Is Fit to Blog: An Analysis of Science Blogging Practices Paige Brown Jarreau Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_dissertations Part of the Mass Communication Commons Recommended Citation Jarreau, Paige Brown, "All the Science That Is Fit to Blog: An Analysis of Science Blogging Practices" (2015). LSU Doctoral Dissertations. 1051. https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_dissertations/1051 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at LSU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in LSU Doctoral Dissertations by an authorized graduate school editor of LSU Digital Commons. For more information, please [email protected]. ALL THE SCIENCE THAT IS FIT TO BLOG: AN ANALYSIS OF SCIENCE BLOGGING PRACTICES A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in The Manship School of Mass Communication by Paige Brown Jarreau B.S., Louisiana State University, May 2008 M.S., Louisiana State University, May 2010 May 2015 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This dissertation would in all seriousness not have happened if it weren’t for the love, patience, support and encouragement of my better half Chad Jarreau. He encouraged me to pursue my dreams, from helping me name my science blog From The Lab Bench to encouraging my career transition from biological engineering into mass communication, when everyone else thought I had gone nuts. He has moved with me across the country many times over, to see me pursue and achieve my goals in higher education. And he married me too! During the few months of crazy stress which was dissertation writing, he walked the dog, cleaned the house, picked up my endless coffee cups, made dinner, washed clothes, bought me a new computer when mine almost died, stayed up till 2am with me on a regular basis, listened to me nerd talk and even contributed financially to my crowd-funding campaign to support my dissertation research. His support and love kept me going when all I really wanted to do was watch Netflix. Family and friends also helped make this dissertation happen. They understood when I couldn’t come to family functions during dissertation writing, and they cooked me gumbo and brought me muffins to sustain me. They’ve encouraged me at every step during my Ph.D. program, and celebrated every small success with me. My mom, Kyle Brown, kindled my interest in journalism, and my sister my interest in photography and visual communication of science. My dad, Don Brown, cultivated my curious mind when he read science fiction to me as child, and to this day is one of the biggest supporters I know of my higher education and life- long learning. Group texting with my seven siblings kept me laughing and light-hearted in the midst of writing a 200+ page document within a 2-month timeframe. Chad’s mother Mrs. Peggy lifted me up when my studies got me tired and down, and has been more supportive of my personal and professional aspirations than I could express in words. ii I would like to acknowledge my wonderful professors and committee members at Louisiana State University, for helping make this dissertation happen. Dr. Amy Reynolds has been a mentor to me since I first stepped into the Manship School. Without her mentoring and support, and most excellent reading recommendations on media sociology, I doubt this dissertation would have been realized the way it has. Amy also made this dissertation process far easier and more enjoyable that I ever imagined it could be. I must also acknowledge my other committee members, Dr. Rosanne Scholl, Dr. Ray Pingree and Dr. Kasey Windels for their extensive help and the time they put into answering my e-mails, making reading recommendations, helping me revise manuscripts, fostering my research ideas and providing their expert advice on my research directions. Dr. W. Todd Monroe, my Master’s thesis chair, was willing to cross campus from my former biological engineering program to mentor me in a science communication social science dissertation project. Props to him for being willing to do so! Dr. Monroe has always encouraged my scholarship wherever it took me, and is a fantastic professor and mentor. This dissertation would also not have happened without the support and interest of my friends and colleagues in the science blogging community, and the receptiveness of the broader science blogging community in general to evidence-based inquiry. From interacting with my tweets to humoring my survey promotion and interview requests, this community is a fantastic research motivator. It would take another 100 pages to thank all the family members, friends, Manship students and faculty, and science blogging community members who have helped make this dissertation research possible. But I will always remember their help and support. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................................ ii LIST OF TABLES ........................................................................................................................ vii LIST OF FIGURES ........................................................................................................................ x ABSTRACT .................................................................................................................................. xii CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................... 1 Statement of Research Problem .................................................................................................. 2 Significance................................................................................................................................. 4 Aims and Expectations ............................................................................................................... 5 Theoretical Framework ............................................................................................................... 6 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW ....................................................................................... 9 Defining a science blog ............................................................................................................... 9 Previous Research on Science Blogging ................................................................................... 11 Scientists in the Blogosphere ................................................................................................ 11 Science Writers in the Blogosphere ...................................................................................... 15 Approaches and Typologies Science Blogging .................................................................... 21 Motivations to Blog about Science ....................................................................................... 25 Norms of Science Blogging .................................................................................................. 28 The Sociology of Science Blogging ......................................................................................... 28 Sociology of the News .......................................................................................................... 29 Sociology of Science Blogging ............................................................................................. 35 Blogging Communities ......................................................................................................... 39 Gender and Blogging ................................................................................................................ 41 Objectives ................................................................................................................................. 43 CHAPTER 3: METHODS ............................................................................................................ 45 Methods Introduction ................................................................................................................ 45 Qualitative Interviews of Science Bloggers .............................................................................. 46 Rationale ............................................................................................................................... 46 Interviews .............................................................................................................................. 47 Sampling ............................................................................................................................... 49 Qualitative Text-Based Data Analysis .................................................................................. 50 Survey of Science Blogging Practices ...................................................................................... 51 Rationale ............................................................................................................................... 51 Procedure and Pilot Testing .................................................................................................. 52 Sampling and Data Collection