Think about what piqued your interest in a particular issue or cause. Perhaps you worked with children affected by AIDS, or a college professor made you aware of cancer prevention measures. You may have gradually realized the value of research through your graduate studies. While certain areas of research play a significant role in your life, other areas affect you less or seem less important, simply because of your background or your interests. Stay sensitive to the issues that interest your peers, and you'll make headway in promoting research data about which you're passionate.
Introduce research data to your community, peers and family members in small bites. If a magazine article does a good job of explaining the effects of using fossil fuels for energy, email it to everyone in your address book. Make extra effort to share news reports, articles and breakthroughs in research that are presented in a reader-friendly format. The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill stresses that information outlets such as press releases, newspapers, magazines and radio, which explain research in short sentences using actionable verbs, make data accessible to the public. If your area of research isn't getting attention, consider writing an article to publish in your local paper, or state your case in a letter to the editor.
Make data more accessible online. Although data motivates you to make changes or to conduct further research, it may seem dry and distant to someone with a very different agenda or who feels unaffected. Start a blog, and break research data down into short articles that cover the specifics. A blog allows you to narrow down research topics and provide in-depth insight into your issues of interest, note Michael Jones and Irit Alony in "Blogs --- The New Source of Data Analysis." Research articles often bundle background, research models, theories and results into several pages of technical or scientific jargon. One weekly dose of research-based information presented in layman's terms is much easier to understand and much more likely to get read.
Stay focused on your goal. It takes time to build interest in a topic that doesn't get much media attention or that gets lost in the vast throng of information channeled to the public on a daily basis. Keep your research passion visible by utilizing social media to post daily tidbits of clearly presented data.