Research Bank

Here are some statistics and information about New Zealanders' attitudes to science and how should we communicate science.

What do we know about New Zealanders' attitudes to science and technology?
In 2001 MoRST (The Ministry of Research Science and Technology) commissioned research into the attitudes of New Zealanders to science.

The Commonsense, Trust and Science Report  identified six different segments each with a distinct profile of attitudes and beliefs about science.

Segment One

25% of the respondents have a high level of intrinsic interest in science. They are the most highly educated and remunerated group, with an appreciation of the benefits science brings to society. Their theoretical understanding of science is somewhat better than that of other segments. They are a gender-balanced group.

Segment Two

18% of respondents who are interested in and appreciate the benefits of science and technology, but are concerned about its consequences. They consider it important that controls are kept on science. With average levels of education, their view of science is somewhat naïve. The group shows a small female bias.

Segment Three

The research revealed an interesting group, which did not appear in similar research in the UK. They make up 16% of respondents and are a well educated and remunerated group with a small male bias. They are likely to be in business roles, and nearly a quarter of the group have had formal science training. They show less interest in science and a lower level of expressed appreciation of the benefits of science and technology than other segments. They question the level of research being done in New Zealand but do not see a need for government control of science.

Segment Four

14% of the respondents believe that science is out of control, and that the government needs to keep control. They do not have a strong appreciation of science’s role in achieving economic success. They put faith in ‘common sense’, which can be a barrier to understanding the complexities of the scientific world. This group has a small female bias and lower levels of income.

Segment Five

A younger segment (14%), who have an interest in new technologies but their understanding of science is relatively unsophisticated. This segment has a male bias, and students and those in semi-skilled occupations predominate. They are less likely to see a need for control over scientists.

Segment Six

13% of the respondents do not understand the complexities of new science and technology areas, nor are they interested in learning about them. They tend to be older than the average, less well educated and with the lowest levels of Internet access. They strongly disagree with anything that interferes with nature, such as cloning. There is a strong female bias in this group and many are retired.

Science and the Public Interest: communicating the results of new scientific research to the public

A number of controversies have arisen in recent years about when and how scientists have communicated their results to the public.

The Royal Society (London) has prepared a report that addresses a number of the issues raised by these controversies and provides guidance to researchers.(Science and the public interest: communicating the results of new scientific research to the public).

Its' central recommendation is that researchers should take account of the public interest when considering whether or how to communicate their results.

The report makes a number of recommendations about practices such as the promotion of papers from journals and scientific conferences, and managing interests that compete with the public interest. It includes a checklist of questions to help researchers to consider the public interest in relation to their results.