Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World
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There are considerable and often-intense debates about the meaning of scientific findings, research methods and public policy issues tied to science. Basic questions about the modern moment are bound up in these debates: Do citizens trust scientists and the way scientists do their work? Are many scientific issues becoming knee-jerk partisan disputes? Are those who […]
Public opinion about climate and energy issues is strongly divided along political party and ideological lines. This chapter reviews those patterns underlying beliefs about climate change, perceived consensus among scientists about climate change, and views about one policy prescription aimed at reducing climate change. Liberal Democrats are especially inclined to hold the view that the […]
The general public is closely divided when it comes to the use of animals in research. Some 47% favor the practice, while and a nearly equal share (50%) oppose it. Support for animal research is down somewhat since 2009, when 52% of adults favored and 43% opposed the use of animals in scientific research. Gender, […]
This report examines the general public’s views on a range of science-related topics and explores the degree to which political views, educational attainment, religion and demographic factors are connected to those views. It also focuses on the extent to which people’s knowledge about science connects to their views on these topics. The bulk of the […]
The bulk of the analysis in this report stems from a general public survey conducted by telephone with a national sample of adults (18 years of age or older) living in all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia. The results are based on 2,002 interviews (801 respondents were interviewed on a landline telephone […]
This chapter looks at a handful of issues in the biomedical arena. No single set of factors is central to explaining views across all of these topics. One of the issues we examined related to changing a baby’s genetic characteristics for specific purposes. Views of genetic modification are influenced by religious observance, as measured by […]
This chapter looks at the underpinnings of two attitudes related to space exploration. When it comes to government investment in the International Space Station, public views are influenced primarily by political factors and education. This pattern is in keeping with public views about government funding for science and engineering, more generally. When it comes to […]