At the outset of this project, I had trouble finding applicable theory or works as I decided to look at the whole communication process. It might have been a little ambitious, but I figured it would be important to take a comprehensive look at the communication process within the Hydrogen Project in order to understand how Bellona communicates. A more limited view would only expose how Bellona uses certain channels or engages in particular activities. The notion of the thesis is that all these activities interact and influence each other, which makes it crucial to look at the whole communication process.
As Bellona uses science and technology as a foundation for its work, it seems natural to move toward science communication models as a framework for the communication process. More research in this area is needed, as indicated by Lewenstein (1995), but the traditional model of science communication is used as a contrast to highlight the necessity of having a multi-directional flow of information, making problematic the receiver and viewing them as passive, recognizing the correlation between context and effect, and contextualization of the communication process. In addition, this theoretical framework portrays the
obsoleteness of dichotomizing science production and popularization.
The traditional model and its critics provide the framework for examining the actual communication process that takes place within the Hydrogen Project. Although it is
recognized that the activities in the communication process are intertwined, for the purpose of the study I have divided the communication process into four parts: translation, strategy, channels and feedback. In order to better explain these four stages of the communication process, I have used theories and works dealing with popularization of science, environmental organizations, the mass media, agenda-setting, Internet to piece together a picture of some of the necessary elements in the communication process.
To study how Bellona navigates the communication process and how the organization perceives it and their own role within the Hydrogen Project, a survey and interviews were conducted. In addition to the survey two informational meetings with my two contact persons at Bellona were conducted.
The survey contained a total of 68 questions regarding the communication process within the Hydrogen Project and, to a certain extent, experiences from previous projects (see appendix 11.1.). The survey was distributed by mail to Bellona employees deemed relevant to the Hydrogen Project by one of my contact points in Bellona. These persons included employees working directly with the Hydrogen Project, in overlapping areas or with administrative duties. The prospective respondents were asked to fill out the 1 –1 ½-hour long electronic survey and mail it back to me. The survey was in English but respondents had the option of filling out their answers in Norwegian. All respondents to the electronic version chose to answer in English. Some of the persons who received the survey did not answer because they had either stopped working in Bellona, not worked there for very long or leave of absence. Four respondents filled out the electronic survey and returned it via mail.
To get some more data to work with, three separate sessions where respondents filled out the survey while I was present. The respondents were given a print copy of the survey in English, but I filled in their answers on an identical form. The sessions were also taped. All sessions were conducted in Norwegian. All questions were explained and paraphrased by me.
This might have has some influence on the respondents’ answers. Some details might have gotten lost in the translation or my explanations might have influenced the respondents in the direction I wanted them to go. On the other hand, my explanations might at times have helped clear up certain questions that might not have been completely clear to the respondents to the electronic version. It should be mentioned, however, that I am sure that most
respondents had looked at some of the questions before the session with me. In addition, I think my presence prompted longer answers, as the respondents were thinking out loud.
In the end 10 persons answered the survey. When presenting the findings from the survey in the thesis, when quoting comments from respondents to the electronic version, it will be indicated that the respondent “wrote” whereas when quoting the other respondents, the respondent will “say” something.
In addition to these two methods, I conducted three interviews that did not follow the survey. They were open-ended interviews touching in various aspects covered in the survey.
First of all, these were persons it was hard to get hold of and get an interview time with.
Second, when getting an appointment (one was in person and two were over the phone), I felt the time was better spent doing an open-ended interview and in some cases it would be difficult to hold their attention with the survey. In two of the cases, the interviewees were not directly involved in the Hydrogen Project.
In retrospect, I find that perhaps I should have just done interviews in accordance with the survey outline. Part of the reason why response to the electronically distributed survey was so low is believed to be due to the length of the survey. Although it took longer to sit down and fill out the survey with the respondents, I find them more willing to do this than to fill it out on their own. The employees at Bellona have a busy schedule, and it is
understandable that spending over an hour filling out a survey for a “faceless” person might take a little more effort than sitting down with someone to talk. This format also gave me the chance to spur and encourage them, get them back on track if their minds started wandering and ask some follow-up questions.
Finally, I had some informational meetings with my two contact persons at Bellona.
At the outset of the thesis, we had one meeting where I presented what direction I wanted the thesis to take and they gave me some information on what Bellona is all about. The second
meeting took place towards the end of the process, and I was allowed to ask questions that had come up during the research. Information from these interviews has been used in the thesis, with permission, and only been referred to as interviews at Bellona. It should also be mentioned that these two persons have given me assistance and information along the way crucial for me to see the case study through.