Scientific and Lay Knowledge 1 Scientific and Lay Knowledge: The ...

Scientific and Lay Knowledge 3
Scientific and Lay Knowledge: The Need for Communication and Integration
Our modern world is defined by science and technology. Behind every household
appliance, every pill in our medicine cabinet, every modified gene in our food, and even the
management of our waste, there is a scientist working under scrutinized conditions to improve
society. And yet, society was not always like this. In fact, there still remain some people who
live in communities in which the scientific method is not applied to everyday life—and some
argue cannot be (Harry, 2011). Even within our own fast-paced, technocratic culture lay
knowledge is prevalent and pertinent. This is because scientific knowledge, the information
acquired through systematic experimentation or pseudo-experimentation and analysis that is
peer-reviewed by other trained scientists, does not give a complete picture of our earth. Non-
scientific knowledge, everyday knowledge acquired by all people outside of the methodology of
science, also contributes to our understanding of the world around us.
Scientific knowledge aids in the globalization process by giving people an ability to
participate in the world economy. Of the five reasons to promote school science education listed
by the National Research Council, the dependence of economic competitiveness on scientific
capacity was one (Liu, 2008, p. 304). According to health researcher Peter Harvey (2009),
scientific knowledge is significant because it is open, verifiable and refutable through a
methodology that requires review (Harvey, 2009, p.629). Science is an evolving process, and
contrary to common belief, scientific knowledge is created to be changed.
Non-scientific lay knowledge is important because it is oftentimes well-adapted to local
conditions and people. Teresa Johnson (2010) found through her fisheries management study
that fishermen had a substantial amount of knowledge about the local fisheries that scientists did
not possess, including information about sea depth and ecosystem interactions (Johnson, 2010).