I'm familiar with both the Strathclyde study below and that by
MRC/MORI last year. I believe that views and attitudes have
changed considerably amongst school children since the
Strathclyde study, although this is not based on any
quantitative data.
We send a lot of speakers into schools, and the great
majority of school children have positive attitudes about use
of animals for medical research especially when given a few
facts (eg animals are no longer used to test cosmetics in the
UK!). The hostile response is now very rare.
On 23 Jan 2001, at 17:49, Martine Stead wrote:
> We did both qualitative and quantitative research with a large
> sample of 10-16 year olds a few years ago. Views were strongly
> polarised on gender lines, with boys expressing indifference or
> active support for animal experiments, and girls expressing more
> ambivalence or hostility. A small sub-group of girls adopted
> extreme positions ('I would rather my granny died than used a
> medicine that had been tested on an animal'). There were
> stronger views, and more claimed knowledge about, the use of
> animals for non-medical research (esp cosmetics) than for the
> use of animals in medical research. Qualitative projective
> techniques indicated that the respondents' image of a 'scientist
> who tests cosmetics' was of an evil, greedy, childless
> white-coated male, while their image of a 'scientist who does
> medical research for eg. cancer' was of a caring, intelligent,
> hardworking female.....
>
>
> Martine Stead
> Senior Researcher, Centre for Social Marketing
> University of Strathclyde, Glasgow G4 0RQ
> tel: +44 141 548 3833 fax: +44 141 553 4118
> [log in to unmask]
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Simon Carter <[log in to unmask]>
> To: <[log in to unmask]>
> Sent: Tuesday, January 23, 2001 5:29 PM
> Subject: Re: Majority back scientific tests on animals
>
>
> At the risk of being a 'self-publicist' there was a article in
> last years THES written by Declan Mulkeen and myself on public
> attitudes to the use of animals medical experiments ('When
> should animals suffer' Authors: Declan Mulkeen and Simon Carter,
> Section: Research, Publication date: May 26, 2000). This was
> based on a MORI survey commissioned by the MRC. This survey
> used both quantitative and qualitative methods. The
> quantitative element of the survey found general support for
> animal experiments where there was no alternative. Indeed, more
> support than in the survey mentioned below. But the qualitative
> element of the survey revealed a more complex picture.
>
> People were quite able to engage in sophisticated discussions
> about the acceptability of animal experiments. They took into
> account the degree of suffering, the need for new medical
> products but also the degree of trust in scientists, regulators,
> the media and campaign groups. In discussion people were highly
> ambivalent about the use of animals in experiments but almost
> all (even those who described themselves as 'animal lovers' and
> vegetarians) accepted that it could be right, in principle, to
> use animals in research.
>
> The full article can be found at:
>
> http://www.mrc.ac.uk/whats_new/MORI_animals.html
>
> Regards
>
> Simon Carter
>
>
> ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
> Simon Carter
> Health Services Research Unit
> Dept. of Public Health & Policy
> London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine
> Keppel Street, London WC1E 7HT
> Tel: 020-7927-2089
> 0794-113-4576
> Fax: 0870-130-8988
> 020-7580-8183
>
> >>> "Simon ,Miss Louise" <[log in to unmask]> 23/01/01
> >>> 16:31:15 >>>
> List members may be interested to read about a Guardian/ICM poll
> which found that 46% of adults support the use of animals in
> scientific tests. More details can be found at
> http://www.guardianunlimited.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,3604,426727,0
> 0.html
>
> Regards
>
> Louise
>
>
> ++++++++++++++++++
> Louise Simon
> Information Officer
> Wellcome Trust Library for the History and Understanding of
> Medicine 183 Euston Road London NW1 2BE Tel: 020-7611-7316
> e-mail: [log in to unmask]
>
> The Wellcome Trust is a registered charity, No.210183
Barbara Davies
RDS - Understanding Animal Research in Medicine
58 Great Marlborough Street, London W1F 7JY
*PLEASE NOTE OUR NEW POSTCODE*
Tel 020 7287 2818 Fax 020 7287 2627
Mobile 07740 181632 E-mail [log in to unmask]
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