do Australians trust scientists?

Hello all,

Does anyone know of any (recent) survey data that asks Australians whether they trust scientists, esp in comparison to other professional groups?

Kind regards, Nancy

Assoc Prof Nancy Longnecker

Coordinator, Science Communication Program Faculty of Life and Physical Sciences, M011 The University of Western Australia 35 Stirling Highway Crawley, WA 6009

ph: 61 8 6488 3926 email: nancy.longnecker@uwa.edu.au skype: nancylongnecker

There is no point explaining everything in the universe if no one is listening to you. (UWA Sci Comm student, 2009)

CRICOS Provider No. 00126G

Hi Nancy, just wondering, do you have access via your communication network to some survey or opinion poll data that show how much Australians trust scientists? Maybe in comparison to other professional groups? I know of no local data, though I do know that in the US scientists regularly come out on top-ahead of clergy, etc, with lawyers and politicians at the bottom.

Cheers Steve

Stephan Lewandowsky

Australian Professorial Fellow School of Psychology University of Western Australia Crawley, W.A. 6009 AUSTRALIA

http://www.cogsciwa.com/ http://www.cogsciwa.com

Voice: [+61] (08) 6488-3231 Mobile: (0413) 56 9246 FAX: [+61] (08) 6488-1006 e-mail: lewan@psy.uwa.edu.au

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7 thoughts on “do Australians trust scientists?

  1. I have just completed a survey for Scientific American/ Nature.

    Bill

    PS details follow.

    Dear Scientific American Reader,

    In Science We Trust?

    Take our exclusive poll on attitudes about science.

    By Mariette DiChristina, Editor-in-Chief, Scientific American

    Global climate change. Energy supplies. Pandemics. Cures for cancer and other diseases. Food safety. Education and global competitiveness. Science is the all-important underpinning of many of the top issues in today’s headlines. Yet how do we as a society feel about science and scientists? Are we comfortable with the methods of science? Do we value the findings? And how do people’s feelings about science vary in different countries?

    Please tell us what you think by taking our special poll. Scientific American, which has 14 foreign-language editions, is conducting a global survey in partnership with our sister publication Nature, the international weekly journal of science.

    Find the poll here: http://readerpanel.nature.com/wix/p418322019.aspx

    We’ll publish the results in an upcoming issue of Scientific American.

    Thank you, once again, for your time and input. We look forward to receiving your vital feedback.

    Sincerely,

    The Scientific American Audience Panel

    _________________________ href=”mailto:ben@labcoatman.com.au”>ben@labcoatman.com.au href=”mailto:longneck@cyllene.uwa.edu.au”>longneck@cyllene.uwa.edu.au href=”mailto:asc-list@lists.asc.asn.au”>asc-list@lists.asc.asn.au href=”mailto:ben@labcoatman.com.au”>ben@labcoatman.com.au href=”mailto:list@asc.asn.au”>list@asc.asn.au

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  2. There are some important issues when we, as science communicators, select and use public attitudes data. Research rigour seems to get forgotten, especially when the popular media use public opinion data but I think we can have higher standards.

    I don’t think this is about “who we can trust about trust” – rather this is about scientific method and rigour.

    A key concern in the Reader’s Digest polls would be that although 750 participants took part in ranking a list of 100 individuals the sample is likely to be biased and not reflect the greater Australian population. How were they selected? There can be absolutely no validity in reported findings, and how many people take part in a poll is quite irrelevant, if the sample is not representative of the population we want to know about. Methodologically the RD report seems further limited – how did they come up with the list of 100 in the first place.

    Ian Muchamore ASC Victoria – President

    On Tue, Jun 15, 2010 at 8:36 AM, Derek Elmes < Derek.Elmes@environment.nsw.gov.au> wrote:

    href=”mailto:asc-list-bounces@lists.asc.asn.au”>asc-list-bounces@lists.asc.asn.au [mailto: href=”mailto:asc-list-bounces@lists.asc.asn.au”>asc-list-bounces@lists.asc.asn.au] On Behalf Of Charles Willock href=”mailto:longneck@cyllene.uwa.edu.au”>longneck@cyllene.uwa.edu.au href=”mailto:asc-list@lists.asc.asn.au”>asc-list@lists.asc.asn.au; Stephan Lewandowsky; Charles Willock href=”mailto:longneck@cyllene.uwa.edu.auwrote”>longneck@cyllene.uwa.edu.auwrote: href=”mailto:nancy.longnecker@uwa.edu.au”>nancy.longnecker@uwa.edu.au href=”mailto:list@asc.asn.au”>list@asc.asn.au href=”mailto:charlesw@cse.unsw.edu.au”>charlesw@cse.unsw.edu.au href=”mailto:list@asc.asn.au”>list@asc.asn.au href=”mailto:list@asc.asn.au”>list@asc.asn.au

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  3. Any interesting development. Will it take us down a “who do we trust about who do we trust” thread? Is it perceptions relating to the group who undertakes or pays for a survey (e.g. Readers Digest) or the results (e.g. Ben Cousins), or both, that are the drivers of trust?

    Cheers

    Derek Elmes

  4. Sorry, are we serious about accepting the Reader’s Digest surveys?

    Australia’s Most Trusted People 2009 http://www.readersdigest.com.au/life/australias-most-trusted-people-2009/article141332.html

    […] 98 Ben Cousins, AFL player (*) […]

    out of 20 million Australians?

    Worth noting that (according to that RD page) the list was rated 3/5 on 87 votes so it isn’t exactly universally believed either.

    C’mon Ppl, Charlesw

    (*) = same as 2008 … Ben Cousins charged with drug possession http://www.theage.com.au/news/Sport/Ben-Cousins-charged-with-drug-possession/2007/10/16/1192300752583.html

    On Mon, Jun 14, 2010 at 04:18:11AM +0800, longneck@cyllene.uwa.edu.au wrote: href=”mailto:nancy.longnecker@uwa.edu.au”>nancy.longnecker@uwa.edu.au href=”mailto:list@asc.asn.au”>list@asc.asn.au

    “Creativity and innovation are measured not by what is done, but by what could have been done … but wasn’t”

    Disclaimer: http://www.eng.unsw.edu.au/emaildis.htm

  5. I tried to post this the other day but it never showed up so I’ll try again (with apologies if it ends up appearing twice)

    Not quite what Nancy was asking about but the “Who Cares about the Environment in 2009?” survey of NSW people’s environmental knowledge, attitudes and behaviours includes a question relating to perceived reliability of information sources (relating to the environment).

    The results are on pages 56-60 of the full report that can be found at http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/community/Whocares2009.htm.

    A question about sources of environmental information is on Page 77.

    Regards

    Derek

  6. The closest thing I’ve seen is Reader’s Digest’s annual “Australia’s 100 most trusted individuals” list. I don’t know how rigorous they are – probably not very – but do appear there, though prominent medical professionals often do very well: in 2009 Dr Fiona Wood made the number one spot, with Professor Ian Frazer in third. Dr Karl – a fixture in the list for many years – came in at number 11.

    The 2009 list can be found here:

    http://www.readersdigest.com.au/life/australias-most-trusted-people-2009/article141332.html

  7. Hi Nancy,

    Not quite what you are asking about but the “Who Cares about the Environment in 2009?” survey of NSW people’s environmental knowledge, attitudes and behaviours includes a question relating to perceived reliability of information sources (relating to the environment).

    The results are on pages 56-60 of the full report that can be found at http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/community/Whocares2009.htm).

    A question about sources of environmental information is on Page 77.

    Regards

    Derek

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