Science knowledge and attitudes across cultures: a meta-analysis

Abstract

The correlation between knowledge and attitudes has been the source of controversy in research on the public understanding of science (PUS). Although many studies, both quantitative and qualitative, have examined this issue, the results are at best diverse and at worst contradictory. In this paper, we review the evidence on the relationship between public attitudes and public knowledge about science across 40 countries using a meta-analytic approach. We fit multilevel models to data from 193 nationally representative surveys on PUS carried out since 1989. We find a small positive correlation between general attitudes towards science and general knowledge of scientific facts, after controlling for a range of possible confounding variables. This general relationship varies little across cultures but more substantially between different domains of science and technology. Our results suggest that PUS research needs to focus on understanding the mechanisms that underlie the clear association that exists between knowledge and attitudes about science

Anticipating the perceived risk of nanotechnologies

“…Others find that the relationship between perceived risk and knowledge is 'chaotic' 47 suggesting a strong role for context. A more recent meta-analysis of science literacy as a correlate of non-upstream attitudes towards technologies (nuclear power, genetically modified organisms, stem cell research and so on) is comparatively definitive 48 . It found across 193 publicly available datasets that general knowledge of science has a weak but stable and positive effect on attitudes toward science and technology in their aggregate (0.08 for Cohen's D weighted regression coefficient), an effect that is weakened when general knowledge is compared to specific technologies, is non-significant in some cases (nuclear power and genetic medicine), and negative in other relationships (for example, environmental science knowledge and attitudes towards genetically modified foods).…”

The genesis of climate change activism: from key beliefs to political action

“…The science communication community has recognized that a simple presentation of the scientific facts does not necessarily motivate public engagement, and meta-analysis has shown that science literacy is only weakly correlated with public attitudes toward controversial scientific issues such as climate change (Allum et al 2008). Values and motivated reasoning may bias information-seeking, interpretation and response to scientific issues (Kahan et al 2010;Kunda 1990), and communicators have been advised to convey climate information in ways that connect with audience values, increase the issue's relevance by emphasizing local consequences, and emphasize the co-benefits of emission reductions (Maibach et al 2008;Myers et al 2013;Bain et al 2012).…”

Gender, Knowledge, Scientific Expertise, and Attitudes Toward Biotechnology: Technological Salience and the Use of Knowledge to Generate Attitudes

“…This study has suggested that when males award experts responsibility for making important decisions about science in society, the way they use knowledge largely conforms to the deficit model (Allum et al, 2008;Bak, 2001;Wright & Nerlich, 2006): the more they know, the more supportive they become. This seems to typify the kind of male frequently described in the literature on gender and science, one that has much invested in hegemony of scientific institutions, and the one described so eloquently by Hayes:…”