Saffron Townsend and Suzanne King digest the public’s views of science

Public Attitudes to Science 2008 (1) was commissioned to provide an evidence base to help support the development of approaches to public engagement with science. The findings should help all stakeholders to do a better job of identifying public aspirations, concerns and views for the future in relation to science, scientists and science policy.

The survey was launched in National Science and Engineering Week by the Research Councils UK (RCUK) and the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills (DIUS). It is the third in a series which includes Science and the Public (2000) and Science in Society (2005).

Positive views

The findings of the 2008 survey show a positive shift on the whole in attitudes towards science and engineering, and demonstrate public enthusiasm for the generation of new knowledge and ideas. The proportion of those who feel that ‘Science is such a big part of our lives we should all take an interest’ has risen to 79 per cent from 74 per cent in 2000; the proportion of respondents who agreed that ‘I am amazed by the achievements of science’ is up to 82 per cent from 75 per cent, and 62 per cent agree that it is important to know about science in our daily lives, up from 59 per cent in 2000.

Public appetite for engagement

Significantly more people feel better informed about science than previously identified (56 per cent of adults, up from 39 per cent in 2005), and there is an apparent demand for more direct communication about science from scientists on their research at an earlier stage than is happening currently.

78 per cent of the public agree that ‘We ought to hear about potential new areas of science and technology before they happen, not afterwards,’ and 73 per cent ‘would like more scientists to discuss research and its social and ethical implications with the general public.’ These and similar findings continue to highlight the importance of rewarding and recognising researchers who carry out public engagement.

Concern about regulation

Confidence in science has grown since the last survey (25 per cent of respondents agreed that ‘the more I know about science the more worried I am’, down from 35 per cent in 2005) and trust in scientists and engineers is consistently strong, although the degree of trust expressed is still linked to the types of institution with which they are affiliated.

The findings show that public concerns about the regulation of science and scientists remain constant since 2005, however. This could reflect manifestations of deeper public attitudes to regulation and governance in general (previous surveys have shown that attitudes to regulation are independent from attitudes to science overall), but indicates that work to build public confidence and trust in the regulatory framework associated with science and engineering remains important.

Confusion about consultation

The results also suggest that confusion exists about what is meant by public consultation, along with a degree of cynicism about any impact it has on decision-making. Although many people responded that public consultation usually involves some kind of discussion and feedback, 25 per cent were unsure or gave no response.

The findings show that people like the idea of public consultation in principle (although they are comparatively less interested or willing to be involved in it), and that, even though suspicion exists about the motivation behind public consultations, relatively few think that government or scientists themselves create barriers to the public becoming involved in this context.

Young people’s attitudes

Overall, the attitudes of 16-24 year olds are very similar to those aged 25 and over. While young people were amazed by the achievements of science, however, science education was perceived to be much less fascinating.

This supports previous research that shows pupils tend to distinguish between ‘school science’ and ‘science in society’. 16-24 year olds tended to rate their science education more highly than the over-25s, but compared with any other age group, fewer (47 per cent vs. 63 per cent on average) were of the view that a career in science and engineering is a good career choice for younger people. 

Attitudinal groups

An analysis of key attitudinal drivers was carried out as part of the survey, to help science communicators target their communications and policymakers to better understand existing diversities of opinion.

Five attitudinal groups were identified, ranging from ‘Confident’ to ‘Indifferent’, and the profiles generated should be interesting to anyone considering public engagement with science and engineering initiatives in the near future.

References

(1) See www.rcuk.ac.uk/sis/pas.htm for file downloads See also Kevin Burchell’s article on p10 of this issue

Dr Saffron Townsend is Principal Manager in the RCUK Science in Society Unit

Dr Suzanne King is a Director of PSP Ltd, one of the co-contractors who carried out the research