@article{article_1698216, title={More Than “A Light”: A Linguistic Analysis on the Analogy-Based Conceptualisation of Science and Scientist}, journal={Medeniyet Kültürel Araştırmalar Belleteni}, volume={5}, pages={1–15}, year={2025}, DOI={10.60051/medbel.1698216}, author={Korkmaz, Nurbanu}, keywords={Bilim, Bilim İnsanı, Kavramsallaştırma, Benzetme, Yapı Eşleme Kuramı}, abstract={This study aims to explore how university students conceptualise the notions of “science” and “scientist.” To accomplish this, a descriptive questionnaire including open-ended prompts was administered to 90 undergraduate students from the Philosophy, Biology, and Linguistics departments at Hacettepe University. The participants were asked to fill in the statements such as “Science is like… because … ” and “A scientist is like … because … ” and to provide reasonable arguments for their analogies. The data analysis was conducted within the framework of Structure Mapping Theory (Gentner, 1983), focusing on identifying relational structures underlying the participants’ analogical expressions. The results of the present study showed that the concept of science was primarily associated with analogies such as light, nature, river, space and life, emphasising its dynamic, systematic and guiding nature. In contrast, the concept of the scientist was conveyed through analogies including child, astronaut, miner, artist, and torchbearer, emphasising qualities such as exploration, creativity, perseverance, and curiosity. The study has three main limitations: a relatively small sample size, the limited scope of the questionnaire, and the lack of quantitative analysis. Future research is recommended to include larger sample sizes and quantitative approaches to validate the findings more robustly.}, number={8}, publisher={İstanbul Medeniyet Üniversitesi}