Rhetoric of Science

Audiences

Effective rhetoric depends on knowledge of the audience; persuasion does not happen in the abstract, but only among specific individuals. Moreover, persuasion rarely happens all at once, requiring multiple messages from diverse sources over time. Different audiences can be more or less receptive to scientific rhetoric. Audiences in the United States are generally highly receptive to rhetoric that is characterized as scientific. Generally, scientists are ranked as the most trusted source of information. What gets counted as “scientific” rhetoric can vary significantly depending on the audience, however; there is no agreement about where the boundaries are between science and not-science or more generally between expert and nonexpert.

Historically, the largest controversies in rhetoric of science have questioned the extent to which science is in fact rhetorical. A useful way to consider this controversy is by thinking about the various audiences that scientists address. For example, the target audience for recent scientific books on the ivory-billed woodpecker—the once-accepted extinction of which has been called into question [Page 643]by a series of sightings in recent years—would likely be the “general public” or all indirect stakeholders interested in the ecosystem and its policy implications; this would be an example of science communication that is clearly rhetorical. The persuasive goals would include stimulating more people to get involved in birding as a hobby, providing support for preservation efforts in the bird's presumptive habitat, increasing support for funding of exploratory expeditions, and convincing readers that indeed this type of research “counts” as a valid example of science. Target audiences for the rhetorical functions of science are considered here in order from the most obviously rhetorical to the most controversially rhetorical.