Thoughts from BIS on Public Attitudes to Science 2011

Ipsos MORI: "the British public value science"

Following the launch of Public Attitudes to Science 2011, BIS and Ipsos MORI hosted a session on the results at the British Science Association’s annual Science Communication Conference. This is the fourth in BIS’s series of studies of attitudes to the sciences and scientists, including the interest in, and appetite for, personal engagement. The presenting team felt that the session was very useful and it was interesting to note that many of the points brought up were also issues that had been raised by the steering group throughout the study (e.g. the value/concerns around labelling people, not making value-judgements on the data). Reflecting on some of the highlights, both negative and positive, the presenters during the session aimed to explore why fewer people reported that they are feeling informed about science compared with the 2008 study, as well as reflecting on the new attitude segments.  This was the first chance to discuss the results ‘face-to-face’ with those involved in public engagement.

Previous reaction to the survey has largely been online. For some, the focus was on the issue of people feeling uninformed. For others, the focus was on the relatively positive attitudes that people have towards sciences and scientists. Others pointed to the hierarchy of trust in scientists (with business and Government scientists again scoring badly). 

The results showcase the difficulty of characterising public attitudes to science due to the very nuanced attitudes that people seem to hold and, as such, they open up some interesting ongoing debate. The headline results reported that people are interested in learning more about science and technology, but that they feel they do not hear enough about science and feel less informed than they did in 2008. But is it worth considering if this really matters? Do we just need to accept that you can’t reach everyone?

The media present the biggest challenge as they play such an incremental role in informing the public. The growth and reach of the internet, digital television and radio since 2008 now mean that there’s almost too much information available, potentially making it harder for people to focus and filter. Using vehicles such as Sciencewise-ERC, BIS’s role is really to make the information available, ensure it is as relevant as possible, and that it is issue driven to engender a reaction and public input. It also represents a ready-made opportunity for the public to engage with science and policy debates, an opportunity that they may not otherwise have had given reported scepticism on public consultation.

Following the Sci-Comm session, the presenters asked the audience to feed back on postcards about what they had taken away from the session. There were some interesting comments and issues raised, which included:

•    Caution around labelling individuals
•    The attitude segments were potentially valuable to remind people that there’s not a one-size-fits-all approach to science communication and public engagement
•    That said, there are potential difficulties in identifying people within the six groups in the first place
•    People are most appropriately engaged in ways that are relevant and fun for them
•    The need to move beyond engaging the usual suspects in terms of people (i.e. confident engagers)

While the session didn’t uncover any concrete answers - it wasn’t intended for that - it did provide food for thought for the audience as well as for those involved in the study.

The slides presented at the session can be found here www.slideshare.net/marilyneb/bisipsos-mori-learning-from-public-attitudes-to-science-2011

Link to the press release:

The session stimulated a wealth of responses on twitter:

“Topline result, contrary to myth, the UK public increasingly values science.”

“British public increasingly values science; we don't have anti-science public.”

“8:10 think that the UK needs to develop its sci-tech capacity for economic growth.”

“People are ready to have conversation about science as part of culture.”

“People still have issues with science and scientists.”

“People trust individual scientists, but are concerned about what they get up to behind closed doors.”

"Scientists are freaky and weird...and mostly do experiments on animals."

“People feel less informed than in 2008 about, but could this be because their expectations have been raised.”

“Targeting communication and engagement can ensure it is not always the same confident engagers involved.”

“Six segments in society: confident engagers, distrustful engagers, late adopters, concerned, disengaged sceptics and indifferent.”

“Participants WANTED more upstream engagement - hearing about science as it goes on, not just at the end.”

“Great. BIS considering UK survey on scientists' attitude to science. Keep eyes peeled.”