PNAS：美國公眾對科學的信任趨勢 Trends in US public confidence in science and opportunities for progress

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ATTHE

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ACADEMIES

OPENACCESS

TrendsinUSpublicconfidenceinscienceandopportunitiesforprogress

ArthurLupiaa,1,2,DavidB.Allisonb,3,KathleenHallJamiesonc,2,JenniferHeimbergd,4,MagdalenaSkippere,2,andSusanM.Wolff,2

Inrecentyears,manyquestionshavebeenraisedaboutwhetherpublicconfidenceinscienceischanging.Toclarifyrecenttrendsinthepublic’sconfidenceandfactorsthatareassociatedwiththesefeelings,aneffortinitiatedbytheNationalAcademies’StrategicCouncilforResearchExcellence,Integrity,andTrust(theStrategicCouncil)analyzedfindingsfrommultiplesurveyresearchorganizations.TheStrategicCouncil’seffort,whichbeganin2022,foundthatU.S.publicconfidenceinscience,thescientificcommunity,andleadersofscientificcommunitiesishighrelativetoothercivic,cultural,andgovernmentalinstitutionsforwhichresearchersregularlycollectsuchdata.However,confidenceintheseinstitutionshasfallenduringtheprevious5years.Science’sdecline,whilereal,issimilartoorlessthanthatintheothergroups.Arecentstudygoesintogreaterdetailbyexploringpublicviewsofscience.Fromthesedata,weobservethatmanyofthesurveyedU.S.publicquestiontheextenttowhichscientistssharetheirvaluesorovercomepersonalbiaseswhenpresentingconclusions.Atthesametime,largemajoritiesagreeoncertaintypesofactionsthattheywantscientiststotake.Forexample,84%respondthatitis“somewhatimportant”or“veryimportant”forscientiststodisclosetheirfunders.Ninety-twopercent(92%)offerthesameresponsestoscientists“beingopentochangingtheirmindsbasedonnewevidence.”Collectively,thesedataclarifyhowtheU.S.publicviewsscienceandscientists.Theyalsosuggestactionsthatcanaffectpublicconfidenceinscienceandscientistsintheyearstocome.

Science’scapacitytoproducediscoveriesthathelppeoplebetterunderstandcriticalaspectsoftheiruniverse,theenvi-ronmentsinwhichtheylive,andoneanotherisundisputed.Scienceisatthecoreoftransformativetechnologiesandinnovativenewmaterialsandpracticesthatimprovehealth,increaseeconomicopportunity,andenhancethequalityoflifeforpeoplearoundtheworld.Somescientificpursuitsalsoprovokesocietalcontroversy.Topicssuchasclimatechangeandvaccinesafetynotonlysparkdebatebutalsoleadsomepeopletoquestiontheintegrityofthescienceitself.

Phenomenasuchastheseyieldheadlinessuchas“Canthepublic’strustinscience—andscientists—berestored?”(1).Indeed,inrecentyears,media,individuals,andscientificorganizationshaveexpressedarangeofopinionsaboutwhetherpublicconfidenceinscienceisdecliningandhaveofferedconjectureandevidenceaboutfactorsunderlyingpublicconfidenceinscience(2,3)andaffectingsupportforfundingit(4).TheNationalAcademies’StrategicCouncilforResearchExcellence,Integrity,andTrust(theStrategicCouncil)initiatedthisstudytoexaminebothpublicconfi-denceandthefactorsaffectingit.

TheStrategicCouncilwasformedin2021(5).Itsinitialactiv-itieshaveincludedexaminingways:tomakepotentialconflictsofinteresteasiertoidentifyanddisclose,toimproveincen-tivesassociatedwithcorrectingthescientificrecordwhenmistakesarefound(thatis,improvingtheretractionprocess),toevaluateframeworkstoincreaseincentivesforscientificintegrity,toexplorehowresearchlaboratoriesandlargersci-entificgroupscanmoreeffectivelyintegratescientificintegrityandresearchethicsintotheirscientificpractice,andtoassesspublicconfidenceinscience(thepurposeofthisarticle).Ingeneral,theStrategicCouncilisseekingwaystoworkwithawiderangeofpartnerstosupportscientificexcellencewhilepromotingpracticesthatstrengthenintegrityandreducebureaucraticburdensforresearchersandinstitutions.

Inthisarticle,wepresentevidenceofchangesinpublicconfidenceinsciencefromtwosources.First,wesynthesizetrenddatafromhigh-qualitysurveyresearchorganizations.Byhighquality,wemeanresearchfirmsthatpubliclycommittoasetofdatacollectionandinterpretationpracticesthatincreasethelikelihoodofaccurateinterpretations.Second,wedescribefindingsfromanewlydevelopedapproachtoanalyzingpublicconfidenceinsciencebyaskingdetailedquestionsnotjustaboutscienceingeneralbutalsoaboutperceptionsbothofscientists’adherencetothescientificnormstheyespouseandoftheincentivesthatmotivateindi-vidualscientistsandorganizations.

Fromthesedata,weconcludethat

1.Confidenceinscienceishighrelativetonearlyallothercivic,cultural,andgovernmentalinstitutionsforwhichdataarecollected,aconclusionconsistentwithlong-termtrends.

Authoraffiliations:aOfficeoftheVicePresidentforResearchandDepartmentofPoliticalScience,UniversityofMichigan,AnnArbor,MI48109;bDean,SchoolofPublicHealth,IndianaUniversity,Bloomington,IN47405;cAnnenbergPublicPolicyCenter,UniversityofPennsylvania,Philadelphia,PA19104;dPolicyandGlobalAffairsDivision,TheNationalAcademiesofSciences,Engineering,andMedicine,Washington,DC20001;eNature,LondonN19XW,UnitedKingdom;andfUniversityofMinnesotaLawSchoolandMedicalSchool,Minneapolis,MN55455

Authorcontributions:A.L.,D.B.A.,andK.H.J.designedresearch;A.L.andK.H.J.performedresearch;A.L.performeddatachecks,compiledreferences,andledthewritingprocess;D.B.A.contributedideasonstatisticalinferenceandrevieweddrafts;K.H.J.revieweddraftsandcompiledreferences;J.H.revieweddraftsanddatachecks;M.S.andS.M.W.contributedideasandrevieweddrafts;andA.L.,K.H.J.,J.H.,M.S.,andS.M.W.wrotethepaper.

Theauthorsdeclarenocompetinginterest.

Copyright?2024theAuthor(s).PublishedbyPNAS.Thisopenaccessarticleisdistributedunder

CreativeCommonsAttributionLicense4.0(CCBY)

.

1Towhomcorrespondencemaybeaddressed.Email:

lupia@

.

2MemberoftheStrategicCouncilforResearchExcellence,Integrity,andTrust.3Co-chairoftheStrategicCouncilforResearchExcellence,Integrity,andTrust.4DirectoroftheStrategicCouncilforResearchExcellence,Integrity,andTrust.

Thisarticlecontainssupportinginformationonlineat

/lookup/

suppl/doi:10.1073/pnas.2319488121/-/DCSupplemental

.

PublishedMarch4,2024.

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2.Confidencehasdeclined…butthedeclineisnotscience-specific.Instead,science’sdeclineissimilartoorlesspro-nouncedthanconfidenceinmanyinstitutions.

3.AsofFebruary2023,thepublichashighlevelsofconfidenceinscientists’competence,trustworthiness,andhonesty.Forexample,whenaskedthequestion“Howconfidentareyouthatscientistsprovidethepublicwithtrustworthyinfor-mationaboutthescienceintheirareaofinquiry?”84%ofrespondentsreportthattheyareveryconfidentorsome-whatconfident(see

SIAppendix

).

4.However,manyU.S.adultsquestionwhetherscientistssharetheirvaluesandwhethertheycanovercometheirbiases.Forexample,whenasked,“Whenastudyrunscountertotheinterestsoftheorganizationrunningthestudy,whichismorelikelytohappen?”andgivenachoicebetweentheresponse“Scientistswillpublishthefinding”and“Scientistswillnotpublishthefinding”70%ofthesamplechoosesthelatter(see

SIAppendix

).

5.Thepublichasconsistentbeliefsabouthowscientistsshouldactandbeliefsthatsupporttheirconfidenceinsciencedespitetheirconcernsaboutscientists’possiblebiasesanddistortiveincentives.Eighty-fourpercent(84%)ofU.S.adultsrespondedthatitis“somewhatimportant”or“veryimportant”forscientiststodisclosetheirfunders.Ninety-twopercent(92%)offeredthesameresponsestoaquestionabouttheimportanceofscientists“beingopentochangingtheirmindsbasedonnewevidence”(see

SIAppendix

).

Collectively,thesedataclarifyhowmembersofthepublicviewscienceandscientistsandrevealdetailsaboutwhattypesofactionscouldaffecttheirconfidenceinscienceandscientistsgoingforward.

Weproceedasfollows.First,wedescribeourdataselec-tioncriteria.ManysurveyscontainquestionsaboutpublicconfidenceinsciencebutnotallhewtowidelyrecognizedbestpracticesformakingrepresentativeclaimsabouttheU.S.population.Next,weofferanoverviewoftrendsinpub-licconfidenceinsciencedatingbacktwentyyears.Tohigh-lighttheimportanceofscienceconfidencetrends,weshowresultsfromastudythatshowedhowvariationsinconfi-dencecorrespondedtoU.S.adults’decisionstotakeoneoftheCOVID-19vaccines.Then,weuseresultsfromanotherstudythatprovidesmoredetaileddatatorevealahigherlevelofnuanceinpublicviewsofscienceandscientists.Inthefinalsection,weuseinsightsfromthesedatatodescribestepsthatresearchersandresearchorganizationswhoareaddressingU.S.audiencescantaketoincreaseconfidenceintheirpracticesandfindingswhensuchconfidenceiswar-ranted.Takingthesestepsmayincreasepublicacceptanceoftheirresearch.

DataSelectionandAttributes

Surveyresearchprovidestheempiricalcorpusfromwhichmostofthisreviewdraws.Surveysaskingquestionsrelatingto“confidence”insciencevaryinquality.Werestrictouratten-tiontoresearchfromsurveyorganizationsthatcollectdatatofacilitatein-depthresearchandthatfollowbestpracticescon-cerningscientificsamplingprocedures.Fortime-trendpres-entationsthatcharacterizelevelsoftrustinscienceinthe

UnitedStates,weusedatafromnationallyrepresentativesurveysofthepopulationfromproducersthatadopttheAmericanAssociationforPublicOpinionResearch(AAPOR)CodeofProfessionalEthicsandPractices,whoaresignatoriesofAAPOR’sTransparencyInitiativeorwhohavemadeequivalentmethodologicalcommitments,atthetimeofdatacollection(6).Inotherpartsofthisarticle,weciteresearchthatdocu-mentscorrelatesofscientificattitudes.Thesestudiesexaminespecificrelationshipsanddonotmakerepresentativeclaimsaboutthenation.Thesesupplementarystudiesalsousewell-documentedandpubliclyaccessiblemethodologies.

Wheninterpretingsurveyresearchfindings,thewordingofquestionsmatters.Foreachfindingbelow,wepresenttheexactquestionwordingthatelicitedtheresponse.Researcherssometimeswordquestionsindifferentways.Forexample,someaskaboutconfidencein“science”whileothersfocusonconfidencein“thescientificcommunity”andstillotherscon-centrateon“trust.”Thesevariationsareanormalpartofsurveyresearch,reflectingthefactthatresearchershavediverseinter-estsandmeasuredifferentphenomena.Inmanymediaandotherpublicconversationsaboutconfidenceinscience,thereisafocuson“trustinscience”andconcernsthat“trustisfalling.”Whilerecognizingthattrustappearsmorefrequentlyincom-monparlance,thetermconfidencemoreaccuratelyreflectsthequestionsthatprominentsurveyresearchorganizationsask.Wewillsaymoreaboutwhatfindingsaboutconfidenceimplyabouttrustinscienceinthearticle’sfinalsection.

ScienceConfidenceTimeTrends

TomeasureconfidenceinU.S.civicinstitutions,thePewResearchCenterasks,“Howmuchconfidence,ifany,doyouhaveineachofthefollowingtoactinthebestinterestsofthepublic?”Foreachcivicinstitution,surveyparticipantscanselectoneofthefollowingresponses,“agreatdealofconfi-dence,”“afairamountofconfidence,”“nottoomuchconfi-dence,”“noconfidenceatall,”ortheycanchoosenottoanswer.Pewasksthisquestionaboutmanygroupsincludingscientists,medicalscientists(Pewisoneofonlyafewsurveyresearchorganizationsthatasksthesequestionsseparately),themilitary,policeofficers,religiousleaders,journalists,electedofficials,andmore.InFig.1,wedrawfromPew’srecordedconfidencechangesfrom2016to2023(2).

Thefigure’sy-axisreferstothepercentageofrespondentswhoanswerthequestioninaspecificway.Thedarkbluepartsofeachhorizontalbarrefertothepercentagerespond- ing,“agreatdealofconfidence.”Thelightbluepartrepresents thepercentageresponding,“afairamountofconfidence.”Thegreenpartreferstothecombinedpercentagewhoreport“nottoomuch”or“noconfidenceatall”inthenamedcivic institution.

Fig.1showshighlevelsofconfidencein“scientists”and“medicalscientists”relativetoothergroups.Theselevelsarenearlyidenticaltoconfidencein“themilitary”andhigherthan thatforpoliceofficers,religiousleaders,journalists,business leaders,andelectedofficials.ThesedataalsoshowthatU.S.publicconfidenceinscientistsandmedicalscientistsdropped from2020to2023.Thisdecline,however,isnotunique.Allmeasuredinstitutionsexperienceddeclinesoverthesameperiodwithmostsimilarinsizetothedeclineinscience.

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84

74

73

131114

15

17131215

222022

2321222327

JunFebDecJanAprNovDecsepoct

'16'18'18'19'20'20'21'22'23

252326

JunFebDecJanAprNovDecsepoct

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policeofficers

Religiousleaders

NET7878

7775

74

70

6163

59

555353

222126

313031

353134

AprNovDecsepoct

'20'20'21'22'23

Dec

DecJanAprNovDecsepoct

'18'19'20'20'21'22'23

Electedofficials

Businessleaders

55

41444346484640

44

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37353737

35

28

2725

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63

72

63

64

62

75

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201917181617

publicschoolprincipals

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Journalists

4845

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20221725

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39

MajoritiesofAmericanssaytheyhaveatleastafairamountofconfidenceinscientists,butratingshavefallensinceearlyinthecoronavirusoutbreak

%ofU.S.adultswhohave__ofconfidenceinthefollowinggroupstoactinthebestinterestsofthepublic

●AgreatdealAfairamount●Nottoomuch/Noconfidenceatall

Medicalscientists

scientists

Themilitary

87

85

87

84

79

78

77

77

77

76

77

74

NET798083828383

76

sep

'22

JunFebDecJanAprNovDecsepoct

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oct

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Note:Respondentswhodidnotgiveananswerarenotshown.

Source:SurveyofU.S.adultsconductedSept.25-Oct.1,2023.

“Americans’TrustinScientists,PositiveViewsofScienceContinuetoDecline”

PEWRESEARCHCENTER

Fig.1.RecentU.S.trendsinpublicconfidenceinscientists,medicalscientists,andotherinstitutions(2).

InitsGeneralSocialSurvey,theNationalOpinionResearchCenterattheUniversityofChicago(NORC)studiesasimilarphenomenon.WherePewaskedaboutscientificinstitutions,

NORCasksabouttheindividualsrunningscientificinstitu-tions.Specifically,“Iamgoingtonamesomeinstitutionsinthiscountry.Asfarasthepeoplerunningtheseinstitutions

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Fig.2.OverallpublicconfidenceinthescientificcommunityintheUnitedStates(7).Imagecredit:CieraHammond.

areconcerned,wouldyousayyouhaveagreatdealofcon-fidence,onlysomeconfidence,orhardlyanyconfidenceatallinthem?”WherePewasksaboutconfidencein“scientists,”NORCasksaboutconfidencein“thescientificcommunity.”Sinceourgoalistoshowapples-to-applescomparisons,weneedeachorganizationtoaskthequestioninaninternallyconsistentwayovertime.ThePewandNORC,foreachoftheirsurveys,satisfythiscondition.

Fig.2revealsthetrendinU.S.publicconfidencechangesfrom2000to2022(7).Init,thedottedbluelinereferstothepercentageresponding,“agreatdealofconfidence,”thesolidredlinerepresentsthepercentageresponding,“onlysomeconfidence”andthesolidorangelinereferstothepercent-agewhoreport“hardlyanyconfidenceatall”inthescientificcommunity.Fig.2showsthatconfidenceinthepeoplerun-ningthescientificcommunityhasbeenhighoverthelasttwodecades.Evenwithasharpdeclinein2022,over85%ofU.S.adultsreporthaving“agreatdeal”or“someconfidence”inthescientificcommunityeveryyearofthesurvey.Krauseetal.(8)andBradyandKent(9)findsimilartrendsoverdif-ferentperiodsusingcomparablesourcesofdata.

Collectively,thesurveydataofferevidencethatwithintheUnitedStates:

?Confidenceinscientistsandtheleadersofthescientificcommunityishighrelativetoothergroups.

?Thisconfidencehasdeclinedinrecentyears,butthescience-relateddeclineiscomparableto,orlesspro-nouncedthan,declinesinconfidenceinothergroups.

AssociationwithCOVID-19VaccinationStatus

Confidenceinscienceprovidesareasonforpeopletopayattentiontoscientificfindings.Thisconfidencebecomesmoreimportantwhenpeopleareaskedtoweighscientificevidence.Acaseinpointisthecorrespondencebetweenpeople’sviewsofscienceandtheirwillingnesstotakealife-savingvaccine.Surveyresearchersfromseveralorgan-izationsexaminedthisrelationship.Eachfoundimportant

relationshipswithintheU.S.adultpopulationbetweenascience-basedformoftrustandwillingnesstotakeaCOVID-19vaccine.

Forexample,theJamiesonetal.(10)surveyempaneledcitizensofFlorida,Michigan,Ohio,Pennsylvania,andWisconsinseventimesbetweenApril2020andMarch2021.Abouttrust,theyaskedthreequestions:

?“Howmuch,ifatall,doyoutrusttheleadersofinstitutionssuchastheU.S.CentersforDiseaseControlandPrevention(CDC)andtheNationalInstitutesofHealth(NIH)toactinthebestinterestofpeoplelikeyou?”

?“Howmuch,ifatall,doyoutrustwhatDr.AnthonyFaucioftheNationalInstitutesofHealth(NIH)tellsyouaboutthecoronaviruspandemic?”

?“Howmuch,ifatall,doyoutrustwhattheU.S.CentersforDiseaseControlandPrevention(CDC)tellsyouaboutthecoronaviruspandemic?”

Foreachquestion,responseoptionswere“agreatdeal,”“alot,”“amoderateamount,”“alittle,”and“notatall.”They thenaggregatedresponsestothesequestionstoforma“trustinhealthauthorities”measure.Aboutwillingnesstovaccinate,theyasked,“Ifano-costvaccinethatprotectspeo-plefromthecoronavirus,alsoknownasCOVID-19,becomesavailableandisapprovedbytheFoodandDrugAdmin- istration,alsoknownastheFDA,howlikely,ifatall,wouldyoubetogetvaccinated?”Responseoptionswere“notatall likelytogetvaccinated,”“nottoolikely,”“somewhatlikely,”and“verylikelytogetvaccinated.”

Fig.3depictstherelationshipbetweenthesevariablesfromJuly2020toFebruary2021.Thefigurereflectstheirmainfinding,whichisthattheU.S.adultpopulation’strustinhealthauthoritieswasasignificantpredictoroftheirreportedintentiontovaccinate.Allingtonetal.(11)reportsimilarcorrespondencesintheUnitedKingdom.

Inaddition,Jamiesonetal.(10)andtheCOVIDStatesProject(12)alsofoundthathigherlevelsoftrustinhealthauthoritieswerestronglyandnegativelycorrelatedwithsubsequent

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VaccineIntentions

0.00.20.40.60.81.0

TrumpRevealsCOVID

ElectionDay

PfizerApproval

BidenTakesOffice

VaccineIntentionsOverTimeByTrustinHealthAuthorities

Notatall(10%)

Alittle(12%)

Amoderateamount(30%)

Alot(21%)

Agreatdeal(26%)

Jul'20Aug'20Sep'20Oct'20Nov'20Dec'20Jan'21Feb'21Mar'21

Date

Fig.3.CorrespondencebetweentheU.S.adultpopulation’strustinhealthauthoritiesandintentiontovaccinate.SurveydatawerecollectedindifferentwavesfromJuly,August/September,September/October,October/November,November,andDecemberof2020,andJanuary/Februaryof2021.Theleft-handgrayregionistheSeptember/October2020waveandtheright-handgrayregionistheJanuary/February2021wave(10).

acceptanceofCOVID-relatedmisinformation.Inotherwords,peopleintheUnitedStateswithlowerlevelsoftrustweremorelikelytoacceptmisinformation,which,inturn,wasasso-ciatedwithalowerreportedwillingnesstovaccinate.

GiventhedemonstratedeffectivenessofCOVID-19vacci-nationatsavinglives,mitigatinghospitalization,andreducingmanyrelatedpublichealthrisks,thesedataofferevidenceofhowlevelsinpublicconfidenceinsciencecorrespondtorealquality-of-lifeoutcomes.

Collectively,theresearchdescribedinthissectionoffersevidencethatwithintheUnitedStates:

?LowerlevelsoftrustinthepublichealthinstitutionsandspokespersonsthatcommunicatehealthsciencewereassociatedwithacceptanceofmisinformationaboutCOVID-19andCOVID-19vaccines.

?AcceptanceofmisinformationaboutCOVID-19vaccineswasassociatedwithdecisionsnottotakealife-savingvaccine.

?HigherlevelsoftrustinthepublichealthinstitutionsandspokespersonsthatcommunicatehealthsciencewereassociatedwithtakingaCOVID-19vaccine.

ACloserLookatUnderlyingFactors

Inmostcases,whenpeopleareaskedtoconsidercondition-ingtheiractionsorbehaviorsonascientificfinding,theyarenotsimultaneouslyofferedtheunderlyingdata,code,orsupplementarymaterialsthatresearcherswouldusetoeval-uateascientificclaim.Inmanycases,thepublicisaskedtobasetheiracceptanceofascientificclaimontrust—trustinmethods,processes,people,orinstitutions.Wintterlinetal.(13)acknowledgethechallengefacingthosewhoarethinking

aboutwhethertoconditiontheirdecisionsonascientificfindingwhentheywrite(pp.1–2):

Scientists(andscienceasawhole)provideevidenceandadviceforsocietalproblemsolvingandcollectivedecision-making.Forthisadvicetobeheard,thepub-licmustbewillingtotrustscience,where“trust”meansthatonecanconfidentlyexpectsciencetoprovidereliableknowledgeandevidence…Becauseoftheirboundedunderstandingofscience,citizensinevitablymusttrustinscience(orscientistsasrep-resentativesofthatsystem),eventhoughthismightberisky…

TogainabetterunderstandingofwhyU.S.adultsvaryintheirwillingnesstotakethiskindofrisk,theAnnenbergPublicPolicyCentersurveyedanempanelednationallyrep-resentativesampleofU.S.adults(see

SIAppendix

formeth-odologicaldetails).Thisstudy,calledtheAnnenbergScienceKnowledgesurvey,orASK,offersawayforresearcherstodistinguisharangeofpublicviewsaboutscienceandscien-tists.TheASKsurveyposedquestionsnotjustaboutscienceandscientistsingeneral,butalsoexaminedwhetherthepublicviewedscientistsatuniversitiesdifferentlythanscien-tistswhoworkforthefederalgovernmentorinindustry.WhiletheASKsurveyincludedanexpansivesetofvariables,wefocushereonthosethatpertaintoconfidenceinscienceorscientistsingeneral.DatareportedbelowarefromanASKsurveyconductedbetweenFebruary22andFebruary28,2023,onarepresentativesampleof1,638empaneledU.S.adults.

Thesurveyinitiallyasked,“Ingeneral,howconfidentareyouthatscientistsprovidethepublicwithtrustworthyinformationaboutthescienceintheirareaofinquiry?”Theresponse

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Table1.PublicperceptionofscientistsintheUnitedStates

%strongly%somewhat%neitheragree%somewhat%stronglyNet

ScientistsingeneralagreeagreeNetagreenordisagreedisagreedisagreedisagree

Arecompetent

35

46

81

14

3

2

5

Aretrustworthy

25

45

70

21

7

2

9

Arehonest

22

47

68

21

8

3

10

Areethical

23

43

65

25

8

2

10

Careaboutthewell-

beingofothers

24

44

68

24

6

2

8

Sharemyvalues

11

31

42

45

10

3

13

Feelsuperiortoothers

9

27

36

43

15

6

21

Arelikeable

9

33

42

51

1

5

7

Insomecases,cellsdonotsumto100%duetorounding.Boldvaluesindicateasummationofothercolumns(see

SIAppendix

formethodologicaldetails).

optionswere“veryconfident,”“somewhatconfident,”“nottooconfident,”“notconfidentatall,”and“don’tknow.”Thirty-eightpercent(38%)reportedthattheywere“veryconfident.”Forty-sixpercent(46%)reportedbeing“somewhatconfident.”Fourteenpercent(14%)reportedbeing“nottooconfident”and2%reportedbeing“notconfidentatall.”O(jiān)verall,84%ofrespondentsreportedbeing“somewhat”or“very”confident.

Table1showsresponsestoamoredetailedsetofques-tionsonhowthepublicperceivesscientists.Thissetofques-tionsbeganwiththeinstruction,