Image of science in cartoons and its relationship with the image in comics

Abstract

If we want to integrate science into society as part of modern culture, we should first ensure that we know about the image that its citizens hold, starting with the students themselves. One of the aims of this could be to increase the number of students studying physics when at present they appear to be in decline. In this paper, we analyse the image presented in cartoons based on criteria previously used for comics by other researchers. To do so, we monitored 100 television episodes broadcast in Spain and we compared them with the results obtained with comics. The results show similarities and differences in line with the audiovisual format used, though both show evidence of a distorted image of science and scientists that is so common in the classic stereotypes sustained by society as a whole.