By Jerram Watts
More than three quarters of Kiwis feel it is important to be kept up-to-date on science issues, a new survey suggests.
The Ministry of Research, Science and Technology (MoRST) commissioned Nielsen to undertake a study of public attitudes toward science and technology in 2002. It was repeated in 2005 and now in 2010 to see if perceptions have changed.
Seventy six percent of respondents felt it is important to know what is happening in the science industry – less than five percent disagreed.
Dr Rosemary Hipkins of the New Zealand Council for Education Research says these results are “reassuring”.
“That’s not always the impression that you get – we have done this three times now across a decade and first saw this pattern in 2002 – it’s affirming,” she says.
Kiwis seem to enjoy finding out about new ideas in science too – in each of the three surveys over 70 percent of respondents said they enjoy hearing about the latest news in the science world.
Respondents felt new medical treatments would benefit most from science – climate change and space research the least.
“The qualitative data shows that people have portals of interest that relate to humanity,” Dr Hipkins says.
In her review of the survey, Dr Hipkins says: “No doubt most people can imagine themselves as potential recipients of such benefits, if not immediately then certainly some time in the future.”
Perceptions of benefits associated with medical treatments, improving agriculture and looking for new forms of energy for transport varied little since 2002.
Around 66 percent, 46 percent and 50 percent of respondents, respectively, felt science could be ‘very beneficial’ in each field.
Since 2002, little has changed in public perceptions toward climate change; around 30 percent of respondent felt science would be ‘very beneficial’; 26 percent were indifferent and 30 percent felt it would be ‘quite beneficial’.
The survey also looked into which science information sources Kiwis found to be most trustworthy.
Sixty nine percent of respondents felt scientists who worked in the industry were trustworthy; 64 percent trusts scientists in the public sector, 57 percent trusted documentaries and 50 percent trusted news and current affairs programmes.
Dr Hipkins says the visual engagement of television news and documentaries aids in peoples’ perceptions.
“Common sense would suggest it’s about exposure; in a form that is accessible,” she says. “Documentaries can show things in 3D models and can make information a lot more accessible than just images.”
The survey drew information from 1200 (578 male, 622 female) respondents and has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.8 percent.
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