Chapter 7 | Science and Technology: Public Attitudes and Understanding

Highlights

About 4 out of 10 Americans say they are “very interested” in new scientific discoveries, and 6 out of 10 Americans say they are “very interested” in new medical discoveries.

• Other science-related issues also interest many Americans, with 4 in 10 interested in environmental pollution and in the use of new inventions and technologies.

The Internet continues to grow as Americans’ primary source for science news and information seeking.

• The Internet has become Americans’ primary source of science and technology (S&T) information, with more than 5 in 10 Americans citing it as their primary source in 2016, compared with about 1 in 10 in 2001.
• Television and newspapers continued to be used less often as sources of S&T news and information in 2016.

Americans' attendance at traditional informal science sites is down or stable in recent years.

• About 5 in 10 Americans said they had visited a zoo or aquarium in 2016, similar to 2012 but down from nearly 6 in 10 in 2001.
• Smaller percentages of Americans, about 3 in 10, said they had visited a natural history museum in 2016 compared to previous years, and a similar proportion said they had visited an S&T center.

Americans correctly answered an average of 5.6 of 9 factual knowledge questions in 2016, a score similar to those in recent years.

• Americans with more formal education tend to provide a greater number of correct answers on science knowledge questions.
• About half of Americans agreed that human beings “developed from earlier species of animals,” the highest percentage seen for this question since 2001. Younger generations are more likely to answer the evolution question correctly.

About 6 in 10 Americans continue to correctly answer two multiple-choice questions dealing with probability in the context of medical treatment.

• About half of Americans could describe the best way to conduct a drug trial.
• About 3 in 10 Americans said they had a clear understanding of what is meant by a “scientific study” in 2016.

Public support for science appears to be stable. Americans continue to perceive far more benefits than harms from science and want government to fund scientific research.

• Most Americans, about 7 in 10, say they believe the benefits from science are greater than the harms, and almost all agree that S&T will create more opportunities for future generations.
• About half of Americans express concern that science is making life “change too fast.” This is similar to past highs.
• More than 8 in 10 Americans continue to say the government should fund basic scientific research, and about 4 in 10 continue to say we are spending “too little” to support such research.

Americans are more likely to have “a great deal of confidence” in leaders of the scientific community than in leaders of any group except the military.

• About 4 in 10 Americans express high levels of confidence in the scientific community, and more than 9 in 10 agree that scientists are helping to solve challenging problems facing the world.
• Since 2001, the percentage of Americans “strongly” agreeing that scientists are solving problems has risen from fewer than 2 in 10 Americans to almost 3 in 10.
• Although the medical community remains the third most respected group in America, the percentage of respondents who express “a great deal of confidence” in it has decreased (alongside confidence in most other institutions) since the 1970s and is now at a low of 36%.

While Americans express less personal interest in the topic of environmental pollution, there is increasing concern about many specific environmental issues.

• Stated personal interest in environmental pollution has slowly declined since 1990, when more than 6 in 10 Americans said they were “very interested” in the topic. Only about 4 in 10 Americans gave this response in 2016.
• Despite the relatively low interest in the topic of environmental pollution in general, concern about specific environmental issues was high in 2016. Almost 8 in 10 Americans say they see water pollution as “extremely” or “very dangerous,” and more than 7 in 10 Americans say they see industrial air pollution as “extremely” or “very dangerous.” (Note that level of interest and level of concern are not necessarily equivalent. Individuals can be concerned about a particular issue but not be highly interested in that topic, especially in cases in which the topic has been on the public agenda for many years.)
• Levels of perceived danger from water and industrial pollution are substantially higher than they were in previous surveys.

Americans are divided on the severity and cause of climate change but concern has returned to previous highs.

• More than 6 in 10 Americans said they worried a “great deal” (45%) or a “fair amount” (21%) about “global warming.” Similar high levels of worry occurred in the early to mid-2000s.
• The highest recorded proportion of Americans ever—more than 6 in 10—say they believe that “global warming” is likely caused by humans.
• While 7 in 10 Americans recognize that “most” scientists believe warming is due to human activities, fewer than 2 in 10 know that almost all climate scientists attribute warming to human activity.
• Fewer than half of Americans think that “global warming” will pose a serious threat during their lifetime.

When given the choice, a majority of Americans say they would prefer to focus on non-fossil fuel alternatives.

• About 6 in 10 Americans say they would prioritize conservation over fossil fuel development; about 7 in 10 would focus on alternative energy over fossil fuel development.
• About 6 in 10 Americans in 2010 said they supported nuclear energy as one way to provide electricity in the United States. By 2016, about 4 in 10 expressed this view.

A substantial minority of Americans think genetically engineered foods are not safe, despite scientific consensus that such foods are no more dangerous than other foods.

• A recent consensus report by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine concluded there is no substantiated evidence that current foods with genetically engineered ingredients are less safe than other foods.
• Despite the scientific consensus, more than 4 in 10 Americans say that “modifying genes” in crops is “extremely” or “very dangerous,” a percentage that is higher than previous surveys. About 4 in 10 Americans also see genetically modified foods as less safe than other foods.

Many Americans view using stem cells from human embryos in medical research as “morally acceptable.”

• Six in 10 Americans (60%) see using stem cells from human embryos as acceptable. This number has been relatively stable in recent years but is higher than earlier surveys.

Americans’ views about animal testing have become less favorable over time.

• Gallup found that about 5 in 10 Americans now see animal testing as morally acceptable, down from more than 6 in 10 in 2010.