Public and Scientists’ Views on Science and Society

Pew Research Center

The public and scientists express strikingly different views about science-related issues, yet both groups agree that K-12 STEM education in America falls behind other nations

January 29, 2015 - Despite similar views about the overall place of science in America, the general public and scientists often see science-related issues through a different lens, according to a new pair of surveys by the Pew Research Center in collaboration with the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).

The report finds significant differences in views on 13 science-related issues asked about in the surveys. For instance, there is a:

• 51-percentage point gap between scientists and the public about the safety of eating genetically modified foods - 88% of AAAS scientists think eating GM food is safe, while 37% of the public believes that.
• 42-percentage point gap over the issue of using animals in research - 89% of scientists favor it, while 47% of the public backs the idea.
• 40-percentage point gap on the question of whether it is safe to eat foods grown with pesticides - 68% of scientists say that it is, compared with 28% of citizens.
• 37-percentage point gap over whether climate change is mostly caused by human activity - 87% of AAAS scientists say it is, while 50% of the public does.
• 33-percentage point gap on the question about whether humans have evolved over time - 98% of scientists say we have, compared with 65% of the public.

There is no single direction of differences between scientists and the public. By a 20-percentage point margin, citizens are more likely than scientists to favor offshore oil drilling. And by a 12-point margin, the public is more likely to say that astronauts are essential for the future of the U.S. space program.

Read or download the full report here.