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Science knowledge and attitudes across cultures: a meta-analysis

Science knowledge and attitudes across cultures: a meta-analysis
Science knowledge and attitudes across cultures: a meta-analysis
The correlation between knowledge and attitudes has been the source of controversy in research on the public understanding of science (PUS). Although many studies, both quantitative and qualitative, have examined this issue, the results are at best diverse and at worst contradictory. In this paper, we review the evidence on the relationship between public attitudes and public knowledge about science across 40 countries using a meta-analytic approach. We fit multilevel models to data from 193 nationally representative surveys on PUS carried out since 1989. We find a small positive correlation between general attitudes towards science and general knowledge of scientific facts, after controlling for a range of possible confounding variables. This general relationship varies little across cultures but more substantially between different domains of science and technology. Our results suggest that PUS research needs to focus on understanding the mechanisms that underlie the clear association that exists between knowledge and attitudes about science.
0963-6625
35-54
Allum, Nick
849dfc6c-00ce-4383-bb5c-4d67985f5576
Sturgis, Patrick
b9f6b40c-50d2-4117-805a-577b501d0b3c
Tabourazi, Dimitra
2f88e5e8-4301-4039-b523-d28c89b3e7a5
Brunton-Smith, Ian
fdb27626-ba05-4d54-b00a-12a8c0a82db3
Allum, Nick
849dfc6c-00ce-4383-bb5c-4d67985f5576
Sturgis, Patrick
b9f6b40c-50d2-4117-805a-577b501d0b3c
Tabourazi, Dimitra
2f88e5e8-4301-4039-b523-d28c89b3e7a5
Brunton-Smith, Ian
fdb27626-ba05-4d54-b00a-12a8c0a82db3

Allum, Nick, Sturgis, Patrick, Tabourazi, Dimitra and Brunton-Smith, Ian (2008) Science knowledge and attitudes across cultures: a meta-analysis. Public Understanding of Science, 17 (1), 35-54. (doi:10.1177/0963662506070159).

Record type: Article

Abstract

The correlation between knowledge and attitudes has been the source of controversy in research on the public understanding of science (PUS). Although many studies, both quantitative and qualitative, have examined this issue, the results are at best diverse and at worst contradictory. In this paper, we review the evidence on the relationship between public attitudes and public knowledge about science across 40 countries using a meta-analytic approach. We fit multilevel models to data from 193 nationally representative surveys on PUS carried out since 1989. We find a small positive correlation between general attitudes towards science and general knowledge of scientific facts, after controlling for a range of possible confounding variables. This general relationship varies little across cultures but more substantially between different domains of science and technology. Our results suggest that PUS research needs to focus on understanding the mechanisms that underlie the clear association that exists between knowledge and attitudes about science.

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Published date: 2008

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 64630
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/64630
ISSN: 0963-6625
PURE UUID: ab3be016-ef3e-405d-bf7d-3222412b9698
ORCID for Patrick Sturgis: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0003-1180-3493

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Date deposited: 13 Jan 2009
Last modified: 15 Mar 2024 12:01

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Contributors

Author: Nick Allum
Author: Patrick Sturgis ORCID iD
Author: Dimitra Tabourazi
Author: Ian Brunton-Smith

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