Can science comics aid lay audiences' comprehension of forensic science?

Isabelle Baxter; Andy  Ridgway; Heather Doran; Niamh Nic Daeid; Rachel Briscoe; Joe McAlister; Daniel  Barnard

doi:10.22323/2.24010201

Can science comics aid lay audiences' comprehension of forensic science?

Isabelle Baxter
, Andy Ridgway
, Heather Doran
, Niamh Nic Daeid
, Rachel Briscoe
, Joe McAlister
, Daniel Barnard

Leverhulme Research Centre for Forensic Science

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

115 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Forensic science has become a standard feature in criminal investigations and trials.However, it can often be a challenge for experts in courtrooms to communicate scientificevidence clearly to lay audiences through verbal expert witness testimony alone. TheEvidence Chamber is an interactive experience engaging public audiences with forensicscience through a mock trial. This study explores the effectiveness of using comics tosupport the understanding of forensic science by non-experts. The results suggest comicswere effective at aiding the audiences’ comprehension of forensic science evidence and inthe future comic-based aids could support juries’ comprehension of scientific evidence.

Original language	English
Article number	A01
Number of pages	22
Journal	JCOM: Journal of Science Communication
Volume	24
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.22323/2.24010201
Publication status	Published - 4 Feb 2025

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

SDG 3 Good Health and Well-being
SDG 16 Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions

Keywords

Public perception of science and technology

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Communication

Access to Document

10.22323/2.24010201Licence: CC BY-NC-ND

Final Publisher VersionFinal published version, 1.73 MBLicence: CC BY-NC-ND

Cite this

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title = "Can science comics aid lay audiences' comprehension of forensic science?",

abstract = "Forensic science has become a standard feature in criminal investigations and trials.However, it can often be a challenge for experts in courtrooms to communicate scientificevidence clearly to lay audiences through verbal expert witness testimony alone. TheEvidence Chamber is an interactive experience engaging public audiences with forensicscience through a mock trial. This study explores the effectiveness of using comics tosupport the understanding of forensic science by non-experts. The results suggest comicswere effective at aiding the audiences{\textquoteright} comprehension of forensic science evidence and inthe future comic-based aids could support juries{\textquoteright} comprehension of scientific evidence.",

keywords = "Public perception of science and technology",

author = "Isabelle Baxter and Andy Ridgway and Heather Doran and \{Nic Daeid\}, Niamh and Rachel Briscoe and Joe McAlister and Daniel Barnard",

note = "{\textcopyright} The Author(s). This article is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution — NonCommercial — NoDerivativeWorks 4.0 License. All rights for Text and Data Mining, AI training, and similar technologies for commercial purposes, are reserved.",

year = "2025",

month = feb,

day = "4",

doi = "10.22323/2.24010201",

language = "English",

volume = "24",

journal = "JCOM: Journal of Science Communication",

issn = "1824-2049",