Health Science Communication: Analysis of popular health science literature in Kannada language

Abstract

The present study is an attempt at analysing and consolidating the available printed Kannada language books on popular health science literature. The product analysis covers the subject matter of health science areas, the place of publication and the trend of publication with respect to time. The other variables of the study include authors, publishers, physical size of the books and price. The objective of the present study is to evaluate health science Kannada books on sample basis. The evaluation is made according to the information provided in the books on five aspects. These are: (i) social aspects of illness; (ii) nature of illness (biological aspects of illness); (iii) typography; (iv) explanation of technical terms, provision of subject index and finally (v) the provision of references. Another major objective of the present research was selection of a few books for detailed evaluations on (i) content (ii) relevance (iii) clarity (iv) method of presentation (v) utility value (vi) readability (vii) illustrations, and (viii) format, the presentation of subject matter.