From Bucchi, M., & Trench, B. (2014, p.6):

Publics has become a common term in discussion and study of science in society, indicating in shorthand that the public is diverse, even fragmented. Because it is not a common, much less every­day, word, publics often has to carry the quote marks around it that draw attention to its deliberate use. Adopting the plural form was an important part of recognising that generalisations about the public - specifically in terms of its deficits - are very rarely valid, and often seriously mislead­ing (Einsiedel 2000). Referring to publics has been associated with the proposal of a contextual model of communication, according to which the communicators inform themselves about, and are attentive to, the various understandings, beliefs and attitudes within the public. Beyond the obvious differentiation of publics as young or old, male or female and scientifi­cally educated or not, the plural-publics approach has been supported by the accumulation of data on the widely varying interest, attention and disposition towards scientific matters in the populations of individual countries and, comparatively, across countries and continents. From surveys of public knowledge of scientific facts initiated over 50 years ago, these studies have become increasingly sophisticated and nuanced. They measure fine distinctions within and between national populations on, for example, levels of trust towards scientists and scientific institutions and attitudes to emerging technologies. They allow such attitudes to be correlated with educational experiences and world views.