《科學發展》月刊編輯內容之讀者偏好分析

Abstract

國科會《科學發展》月刊目前為國內政府出版品中唯一的綜合性科普雜誌，因營運經費係由國科會逐年編列預算支應，民眾得以較低廉的價格購買紙本版，甚至可透過網路免費瀏覽電子版全文，由於該刊擁有坊間科普雜誌無法匹敵的行政資源，故對科普知識的傳播實責無旁貸。

隨著教育的日益普及，以「消費者為中心」的出版趨勢已蔚為主流，讀者對出版品質量的要求日趨嚴苛，面對此一衝擊，若擬真正達到科學知識普及於一般大眾的出版宗旨，該刊的內容實應配合讀者的偏好做適度的調整。

本研究以問卷調查法蒐集該刊的訂閱戶、試閱戶及贈閱戶對該刊編排內容的意見，並採敘述統計分析法整理讀者填答的資料。

本研究的重要發現為:(一)由文字工作者以採訪方式撰寫的文章則相對較為易懂；(二)最為讀者接受的文章篇幅為2,500字至3,000字；(三)有超過3成的讀者僅能少部分或完全無法理解非屬其專業領域的文章內容及原理圖；(四)超過9成的讀者贊成《科學發展》月刊應有部分比例的文章譯自國外知名科普雜誌；(五)讀者最感興趣的3大領域依序為生物、醫學及科技與社會，較不感興趣的是財經、數學及管理等方面的文章；(六)與日常生活相關的科普知識最受讀者青睞，次為新發明介紹，以及謠言與真相的分析；(七)高達7成的讀者表示雙欄式(行長19至23字)的編排能帶給其較高的閱讀舒適度；(八)高達83.4%的讀者認為科普演講整理稿的題材不夠新穎。

本研究結果可作為國科會《科學發展》月刊，以及其他中文科普雜誌規劃編輯內容的參考。

Science Development Monthly published by the National Science Council (NSC) is the only comprehensive popular science magazine among all government publications. As the operating cost for Science Development Monthly is supported by the NSC budget each year, the public are able to purchase hardcopies at a lower price, or even view the whole text online, gratis. With abundant administrative resources far beyond other popular science magazines, Science Development Monthly shoulders the indispensable responsibility to spread popular science knowledge.

As education becomes popular, consumer-oriented publishing has become mainstream and readers have placed increasingly greater demands on the quality of publication. In response to the impact, the content of the Science Development Monthly should be adjusted according to the preference of readers in order to reach the goal of popularization of science knowledge and satisfying the needs of the public.

This study adopts the questionnaire method to collect the comments regarding the contents and layout of Science Development Monthly given by subscribers, trial subscribers and free subscribers. Descriptive statistical analysis is used to compile data.

Major findings of this study are: 1. Articles prepared by writers in interview format are easier to understand; 2.The most acceptable article length is between 2500 to 3000 words; 3. Over 30% of readers can barely understand or are unable to understand the contents and diagrams that are not in their field of interest; 4. Over 90% of readers agree that Science Development Monthly should carry some articles translated from other international popular science magazines; 5. The three categories that readers are most interested in are: biology, medicine, Science, Technology and Society Studies; they are least interested in finance, mathematics and management; 6. Readers are most interested in popular science knowledge related to daily life followed by introduction of new inventions and the analysis between rumor and truth; 7. Over 70% of readers expressed that the 2-column layout enables comfort in reading; 8. As high as 83.4% of readers expressed that the topics of popular science speech transcripts are out-of-date.

Findings of this study can serve as a reference for the contents of Science Development Monthly and other Chinese popular science magazines.