John
> We are planning a "Science Census", to explore the dimensions of public
> understandings of science - knowledge, attitudes and backgrounds.
>
> Do you know of any other work in this area?
To the best of my knowledge there is very little hard research on the
public's knowledge of science in the UK. The classic work is that of Prof
John Durant at Imperial College in the late 80's (see 'The public
understanding of science', Nature, 1989, v 340, 11-14).
This study was repeated recently. It showed very little overall change in the
public's level of knowledge of science, despite all the recent PUS
initiatives.
There has been much more work done in the area of the public's attitude to
science.
A COPUS booklet , 'To know science is to love it?' provides a useful overview
(Contact COPUS on 0171 839 5561). Also, almost any issue of the journal
'Public understanding of science' will contain interesting papers in this
area.
In the USA the annual surveys from the National Science Foundation provide a
valuable yardstick to the knowledge and attitudes of Americans.
Finally, if you want a more detailed and comprehensive reply you could try
posting your request to the UK's science communication mailing list.
To subscribe, send the message:
join psci-com Firstname Surname
to [log in to unmask] with no subject text.
Let me know if you would like any more information on any of these references.
All the best
Paul McCrory
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