Majority of Europeans ‘interested’ in science

A majority of Europeans, in particular in the EU 15, say that they are interested in scientific information and trust the media to explain scienfic issues in an accessible way. However, they would prefer scientists themselves to present their results, according to a new survey.

An EU survey on European citizens’ interest in scientific research and their views on how science is represented in the media was published on 3 December 2007 at the first European Forum on Science Journalism.

The survey reveals that a majority (57%) of Europeans are interested in scientific research. The highest interest was recorded in the Nordic and the Benelux countries as well as France. The average interest in the 12 new central and eastern European member states was only 38%, compared to 62% in the EU 15.

The survey also reveals a difference in the subjects of interest, with the newer member states more focused on information technology and space and the EU 15 reporting higher levels of interest in medicine, the environment and energy. 

A majority of Europeans consider the scientific information they get from the media to be reliable (65%), objective (63%) and useful (60%). However, half of the repondents (49%) found that the issues are difficult to understand and not entertaining (51%). Furthermore, most of the respondents said they would prefer scientists (52%) to present scientific information rather than journalists (14%), and that they would prefer regular short news reports rather than longer in-depth pieces.

Along with the Eurobarometer survey, two studies assessing the attitudes of European scientists and media representatives on the practices, challenges and opportunities they encounter in their daily work were published, as well as an EU guide to training in science journalism.

“Democratic, civic, scientific and spiritual values of scientific journalism are a bit missing in these three surveys,” commented Donghong Cheng from the China Association for Science and Technology. “Issues linked to building a democratic society, which is the aim of science communication, are important to give people the confidence to live in a high-tech society,” she added.

Alan Leshner, CEO of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, said that the public’s interest in science communication was striking, and reminded him that the goals of scientists and journalists in communciating science are not the same. “Scientists want to sell science to the public, whereas journalists just want to communicate science.”

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