First, test your science literacy against the general public with this short quiz.
The Pew Center recently released the results of a study comparing scientists to the general public and have found that scientists views of themselves, of controversies and of politics are significantly different than the public.
First, 84% of Americans say that science has a positive and effect the difference is very small between Republicans and Democrats, and 70% say that scientists contribute positively to society. Only teachers and military personnel have a more positive ranking. In fact, the approval rate for scientists is almost double that for clergy and journalists. Can you guess who’s at the bottom? It’s business executives at 21%.
There is also this interesting result: 55% of Americans see a conflict between science and religion while 38% do not. However, only 36% see a conflict between their particular religion and science. 31% of Americans do not believe in evolution while 32% do. The survey also finds that scientists tend to view the achievements in science more positively than the general public does. Scientists also have a very poor view of the coverage of science issues by the media, specifically citing that the media does not distinguish between well-founded studies and those that are not.
When it comes to politics scientists also vary significantly from the general public. One issue in particular is the claim that the Bush administration suppressed scientific reports:
This issue resonates strongly with scientists, but not with the general public. An overwhelming majority of scientists say they have heard a lot (55%) or a little (30%) about claims that the Bush administration did not allow government scientists to report findings that contradicted administration policy. By contrast, just 10% of the public heard a lot about the claims and 34% heard a little; most say they have heard nothing at all about it.
About three-quarters of scientists (77%) believe the claims about the Bush administration are true, while just 6% say they are false. And virtually all of the scientists who say these claims are true – 71% of scientists overall – believe that these practices occurred more often during the Bush administration than during previous administrations.
For political party identification, scientists are much more likely to describe themselves as liberal or very liberal than the general public. The partisan breakdown for scientists (general public) is 55% Democrat (35%), 6% Republican (23%) and 32% Independent (34%). With leaners, the numbers are 81% Democrat (52%) and 12% Republican (35%). That is quite a divide!
The biggest divide in survey appears to be religious belief. 83% of the American public believe in God, while only 33% of scientists do, and 41% of scientists believe in no God or higher power compared to 4% of the public.
OK, I’ll stop here. There’s plenty more at the report if you’re interested in reading it.