To obtain a set of core indicators system for the assessment of science popularization work in provincial districts with both flexibility and practicality, this study conducted in-depth interviews with a total of 15 ministers of science and technology popularization at the provincial association for science and technology, distributed in the eastern, central and western parts of China. About 130 000 words of standardized interview texts were accumulated for open coding, axial coding, and selective coding in Nvivo11plus. In addition, the attitude and reasons for specific indicators were analyzed separately using matrix coding. From this, three sets of core indicators for assessing provincial science popularization work were proposed respectively applicable to the eastern, central, and western regions. Traditional indicators such as personnel, funding, and infrastructure were included. Moreover, integrate quantitative indicators that can reflect the latest science popularization trends, such as science popularization products and media and the new situation of science popularization were also used. In addition, qualitative cases were introduced to support quantitative indicators to provide a more comprehensive assessment of provincial science popularization.

provincial (regional) science popularization assessment  /  core indicators  /  text analysis  /  qualitative research