  Articles and gems - European citizens' views
The November 2005 issue of RTDinfo, the Magazine on European Research, was dedicated to the results of two surveys carried out on behalf of the European Commission:
- Europeans, Science and Technology; and
- Social values, Science and Technology.
You can download these surveys and similar information from
http://europa.eu.int/comm/public_opinion/.
This double survey included 32 countries with a total population of 570 million people. In most of these
countries, one thousand people were interviewed (in small ones - such as Malta - five hundred).
The survey results indicate that European citizens would like to know more about scientific research and
are not pleased with the information they currently receive, particularly from scientists.
Europeans see fields like medicine, biology and physics as more "scientific" than, say, astronomy and
mathematics. They see areas like homeopathy, history and horoscopes as considerably less scientific, but
rate astrology higher than history, possibly caused by the similarity of the words "astrology" and
"astronomy."
While the citizens do think science is important and beneficial, science also makes them feel a bit uneasy. Almost a
third of the citizens of two countries - Finland and The Netherlands - think that the benefits of science
do not outweigh its potential harmful effects and so does one quarter of the population of Slovenia and Luxembourg.
In other countries, this percentage is lower.
The public is very skeptic about statements like "science can help eliminate poverty and hunger" and
"science and technology can sort out any problem." However, when presented with a more optimistic view, the
citizens of some nations appear much more ready to accept that optimism than those of others.
"Science has a too negative image in society." hold 49% of the British - who can buy New Scientist together with their
potatoes and apples at many supermarkets - while 24% of the European citizens say they do not know.
An earlier survey was carried out in 1992 and interest in science was higher then than it is now. This is
partly related to the inclusion of more states in the two surveys of 2005.
One fifth of Europe's citizens are not interested in science at all. Of the others, most are interested
in medicine and the environment. While still low, the interest in nanotechnologies is increasing.
"When it comes to information, it seems that the notion of scientists locked away in their 'ivory towers'
is still widely held." Women, people over 55, the less educated, fulltime homemakers, the unemployed, the retired
and people living in rural areas are least well informed.
Is the U.S.A. better than Europe? "Yes," feel almost one third of Europe's citizens 18% believe that scientific
education is better in Europe than in the U.S. Finally, the majority of Europe's citizens believes that the
public is not involved sufficiently enough in decisions about science and technology.
You can download these surveys and similar information from http://europa.eu.int/comm/public_opinion/.
previous page
© SmarterScience
http://www.smarterscience.com 
Most recent changes to this page:
September 20, 2006
|
