Belief in public efficacy, trust and attitudes to modern genetic science

The official published version can be accessed from the links below - Copyright @ 2007 Wiley-BlackwellGovernment and policymakers want to engage the public in a dialogue about the conduct and consequences of science and increasingly seek to actively involve citizens in decision-making processes. Implicit in this thinking is that greater transparency and public inclusion will help dispel fears associated with new scientific advancements, foster greater public trust in those accountable, and ultimately increase the acceptability of new technologies. Less understood, however, are public perceptions about such high-level involvement in science and how these map onto public trust and attitudes within a diverse population. This article uses the concept of public efficacy—the extent to which people believe that the public might be able to affect the course of decision making—to explore differences in trust, attentiveness, and attitudes toward modern genetic science. Using nationally representative data from the 2003 British Social Attitudes Survey, we begin by examining the characteristics of those who have a positive belief about public involvement in this area of scientific inquiry. We then focus on how this belief maps on to indicators of public trust in key stakeholder groups, including the government and genetic scientists. Finally, we consider the relationship between public efficacy and trust and attitudes toward different applications of genetic technology. Our findings run contrary to assumptions that public involvement in science will foster greater trust and lead to a climate of greater acceptance for genetic technology. A belief in public efficacy does not uniformly equate with more trusting attitudes toward stakeholders but is associated with less trust in government rules. Whereas trust is positively correlated with more permissive attitudes about technologies such as cloning and gene therapy, people who believe in high-level public involvement are less likely to think that these technologies should be allowed than those who do not.The support of the Economics and Social Research Council (ESRC) is acknowledged. The work arises from the ESRC Attitudes to Genomics project L145251005

Public Perceptions of Genetically Engineered Foods: Playing God or Trusting Science

The author considers whether levels of religiosity or scientism affect public perceptions of genetically engineered foods

Nanotechnology: A Policy Primer

[Excerpt] Nanoscale science, engineering, and technology—commonly referred to collectively as nanotechnology—is believed by many to offer extraordinary economic and societal benefits. Congress has demonstrated continuing support for nanotechnology and has directed its attention primarily to three topics that may affect the realization of this hoped for potential: federal research and development (R&D) in nanotechnology; U.S. competitiveness; and environmental, health, and safety (EHS) concerns. This report provides an overview of these topics—which are discussed in more detail in other CRS reports—and two others: nanomanufacturing and public understanding of and attitudes toward nanotechnology

Monitoring What Matters About Context and Instruction in Science Education: A NAEP Data Analysis Report

This report explores background variables in the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) to examine key context and instructional factors behind science learning for eighth grade students. Science education is examined from five perspectives: student engagement in science, science teachers' credentials and professional development, availability and use of science resources, approaches to science instruction, and methods and uses of science assessment

U.S. Attitudes toward Terrorism and Counterterrorism: Report to the Resilient Systems Division, Science and Technology Directorate, U.S Department of Homeland Security

Existing survey data do not provide comprehensive baseline information about U.S. beliefs and attitudes on terrorism and counterterrorism. Improved understanding of public attitudes can inform programs and tools related to managing public risk perception, increasing effectiveness of pre- and post-event communication by Federal, state, and local officials, and building and supporting more resilient social networks within and across communities.In this project, systematic survey data was collected from a sample of Americans in response to a range of newly developed survey questions. The survey was developed by two leading survey methodologists, following consultations with a research team of experts who study the dynamics of terrorism, counterterrorism, and community resilience, as well as with practitioners and officials from throughout the homeland security community. The questions were administered to members of a web panel by the on-line survey firm Knowledge Networks, and a second wave of the survey will be issued approximately six months after the first wave to allow for analysis of attitudes over time.The first wave of the questionnaire was completed, from September 28, 2012 to October 12, 2012, by 1,576 individuals 18 years of age and older. The first section of the questionnaire assessed the salience of terrorism by asking respondents whether they had thought about terrorism in the preceding week, how likely they thought a terrorist attack in the United States was in the next year, and whether they had done anything differently in the past year because of the possibility of such an attack. The second section of the questionnaire posed questions about how likely respondents would be to call the police in response to various actions potentially related to terrorism and how concerned respondents felt the government should be about these actions. Respondents who said they had thought about a terrorist attack in the last week were more likely than other respondents to say they were likely to call the police in response to the various situations described to them. The survey then assessed respondents' awareness and evaluation of government efforts related to terrorism in the United States. A large majority of the respondents said that the U.S. government has been very effective (33 percent) or somewhat effective (54 percent) at preventing terrorism; less than 13 percent characterized the government as not too effective or not effective at all.In a final section of the survey, we asked respondents about two specific programs focused on increasing communication between members of the public and the government on topics related to terrorism

Incommensurable worldviews? Is public use of complementary and alternative medicines incompatible with support for science and conventional medicine?

Proponents of controversial Complementary and Alternative Medicines, such as homeopathy, argue that these treatments can be used with great effect in addition to, and sometimes instead of, ?conventional? medicine. In doing so, they accept the idea that the scientific approach to the evaluation of treatment does not undermine use of and support for some of the more controversial CAM treatments. For those adhering to the scientific canon, however, such efficacy claims lack the requisite evidential basis from randomised controlled trials. It is not clear, however, whether such opposition characterises the views of the general public. In this paper we use data from the 2009 Wellcome Monitor survey to investigate public use of and beliefs about the efficacy of a prominent and controversial CAM within the United Kingdom, homeopathy. We proceed by using Latent Class Analysis to assess whether it is possible to identify a sub-group of the population who are at ease in combining support for science and conventional medicine with use of CAM treatments, and belief in the efficacy of homeopathy. Our results suggest that over 40% of the British public maintain positive evaluations of both homeopathy and conventional medicine simultaneously. Explanatory analyses reveal that simultaneous support for a controversial CAM treatment and conventional medicine is, in part, explained by a lack of scientific knowledge as well as concerns about the regulation of medical research

The Review of Economic Performance and Social Progress 2001: The Longest Decade: Canada in the 1990s

In this chapter, Frank Graves examines the relationship between what he describes as the "official economy," as portrayed by conventional measures of economic performance, and public perceptions of the state of the economy. He also considers the public's understanding of the relationship between economic and social well-being, and the linkages between the public's perception of economic performance and their attitudes toward the redistributive impact of the State and its broader social role. The analysis in the chapter is based on data from quantitative survey and evidence from qualitative focus group conducted over the past decade.Well-being, Wellbeing, Well Being, Social Progress, Social, Societal, Society, Values, Social Capital, Subjective Well-being, Subjective, Redistribution, Growth

Kultivierungshypothese : eine Bibliographie

Kultivierungshypothese: Eine Bibliographie. Zusammengestellt von Hans J. Wulf

Trust in Authorities Monitoring the Distribution of Genetically Modified Foods: Dimensionality, Measurement Issues, and Determinants

Based on a combined internet and mail survey in Germany the independence of indicators of trust in public authorities from indicators of attitudes toward genetically modified food is tested. Despite evidence of a link between trust indicators on the one hand and evaluation of benefits and perceived likelihoods of risks, correlation with other factors is found to be moderate on average. But the trust indicators exhibit only a moderate relation with the respondents' preference for either sole public control or a cooperation of public and private bodies in the monitoring of GM food distribution. Instead, age and location in either the New or the Old Lander are found to be significantly related with such preferences.consumer trust, genetically modified foods, monitoring, food safety, Agricultural and Food Policy, D18, Z13,

Risk perceptions, risk attitudes and the formation of consumer acceptance of Genetically Modified (GM) food

The influence of risk perception and risk attitudes in the process of accepting genetically modified (GM) food is often ignored, and particularly whether both constructs (latent variables) have a combined effect in explaining consumer acceptance. Similarly, the inclusion of organic product standards juxtaposed to GM food is unknown. This paper attempts to shed some light on this question by examining the decision making process through the use of structural equation modeling (SEM). We use survey data from Spain and a set of theoretical constructs that allow us to identify independent mechanisms underlying individuals’ risk decision making. Our results suggest that the conceptualized model captures the decision making process, and that both perceptions and attitudes toward risk have independent effects on consumer acceptance. However, the effect from risk perception is larger in intensity. Finally, attitudes towards organic production emerge as an informative determinant of attitudes towards GM food.risk perceptions, consumer acceptance, risk attitudes, and GM food., Agricultural and Food Policy,