Eurobarometer 2005 - 1 Europeans, Science and Technology Michel Claessens Information and Communication Unit Research DG European Commission

Eurobarometer 2005 - 1

Europeans,Science

andTechnology

Michel Claessens

Information and Communication Unit

Research DG

European Commission


Some technical data

New public opinion surveys on science and technology (Eurobarometer N° 224 - since 1973)

A première: 32 European countries covered at the same time (570 million people)

31,389 people interviewed, aged 15+, in – 25 Member States– Candidate countries (BG, RP, HR, TR)– IS, CH, NO

2 reports:– Europeans, science and technology– Values, science and technology


Since 1 May 2004:•Cyprus•Estonia•Hungary•Latvia•Lithuania•Malta•Poland•Czech Republic•Slovenia•Slovakia

Countries covered

EUAustriaBelgiumDenmarkFinlandFranceGermanyGreeceIrelandItalyLuxembourgThe NetherlandsPortugalSpainSwedenUnited Kingdom

Candidate countries:•Bulgaria•Croatia•Romania•Turkey

European Economic Area:•Iceland•Norway•Switzerland


General trends

Overall positive perception and optimism about science and technology

Scientific literacy has markedly increased in most EU countries

EU citizens trust in science and technology but… Europeans feel badly informed and little involved in

science and technology Scientists have a positive image but…


High levels of optimism

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

S&t will improvethe quality of life

of futuregenerations

Developments ins&t have

improved thequality of life ofyour generation

Agree

Disagree


Optimism about science and technology

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

CH AT SIEL LU FR DK NL SE BE DE

EU25 CY PT IT IE CZ ES FI HU UK SK MT LV LT PL EE

% of people agreeing that s&t will improve the quality of life of future generations


Are you very interested in ...

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

Sports news Politics New medicaldiscoveries

Envionmentalpollution

Newinventions andtechnologies

New scientificdiscoveries

2005 (EU25)

1992 (EC12)

40%: EL, FR, LU, NL, CY, MT, IS

< 20%: IT, PT, LT, BG, RO

40%: EL, NL, SE, CY, IS


US


Interest in new scientific discoveries

-40

-30

-20

-10

0

10

20

30

40

50

BE DE DK EL ES FR IE IT LU NL PT UK

2005 (EU25) % change vs 1992

% of people very interested in new scientific discoveries


Interest in new scientific discoveries

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

LT PT PL LV IE IT SK EE ATES HU

EU25 UK CZ BE SIEL FI M

TDE FR LU NL CY SE

% of people very interested or moderately interested in new scientific discoveries


Interest in new inventions and technologies

-20

-10

0

10

20

30

40

50

BE DE DK EL ES FR IE IT LU NL PT UK

2005 (EU25) % change vs 1992

% of people very interested in new inventions and technologies


Are you very well informed about ...

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

Sports news Politics New medicaldiscoveries

Envionmentalpollution

Newinventions andtechnologies

New scientificdiscoveries

2005 (EU25)

1992 (EC12)

40%: EL, FR, LU, NL, CY, MT, IS


40%: EL, NL, SE, CY, IS



A scientific quiz ...

0102030405060708090

100

The centre of theEarth is very hot

Radioactive milk canbe made safe by

boiling it

Electrons are smallerthan atoms

Antibiotics killviruses and bacteria

Earlier humans livedat the same time as

dinosaurs

2005 2001 1992

Percentage of good answers

15-24 years


Evolution of scientific knowledge

0 5 10 15 20 25

Oxygen from plants

Center of the Earth

Electrons

Radioactivity

Human evolution

Tectonics

Radioactive milk

Lasers

Early humans

Antibiotics

Increase (2005 vs 1992) in the percentage of good answers, average EC12


Improvement of scientific literacy (EC 12)

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

20

LU BE EL NL DE PT DK IT IE FR ES UK

% of increase (2005 vs 1992) of the percentage of good answers


Scientific literacy in 2005 (EU15)

40

45

50

55

60

65

70

75

80

SE FI DK NL LU DE BE UK FR AT IT IE ES EL PT

Average % of good answers


Scientific literacy in 2005 (EU25)

40

45

50

55

60

65

70

75

80

SE CZ FI DK NL SI LU DE BE UK HU FR SK EE AT IT PL IE ES EL LT PT LV MT CY

Average % of good answers


Evolution of scientific knowledge– New Member States

-5 0 5 10

Sun rotates around Earth

Center of the Earth

Electrons

Radioactive milk

Human evolution

Tectonics

Radioactivity

Antibiotics

Lasers

Early humans

Increase (2005 vs 2002) in the percentage of good answers, average


Improvement of scientific literacy – New member

States

-6

-4

-2

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

CZ SI HU SK EE LT CY PL MT LV

% of increase (2005 vs 2002) of the percentage of good answers


Improvement of scientific literacy – New member

States

40

45

50

55

60

65

70

75

80

CZ HU SI SK EE PL LV LT MT CY

2002 Var 2005/ 2002


How do you cure a health problem?

0 20 40 60 80 100

I did nothing

Chiropractics

Osteopathy

Meditation/yoga

Psychology/psychotherapy

Homeopathy

Praying

Herbalism

Massage

Medical doctor

Medicines

FR

FR, FI

TR, CH, RO


The scientificness of sciences ...

0 20 40 60 80 100

History

Homeopathy

Economics

Astrology

Horoscopes

Psychology

Astronomy

Mathematics

Biology

Physics

Medicine

Percentage of respondents who agreed that these disciplines are fairly scientific


What is science?

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35

The work of scientists

Universal project: working forProgress

New discoveries, inventions

Testing a theory, hypothesis

Measuring, math, experiment

Doing test in a lab

Research conducted byscientists

In-depth study, understanding


What it means to study something scientifically?


Participation of the public

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

PT LT EE CZ LV HU SK IT CY ES AT IE SIDE

EU25 FI MT

BE PL DK EL UK LU NL SE FR

% of people disagreeing that it is not important for me to be involved in decisions about s&t


EU research

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

saves money

is more creative andeffective

is in the nationalinterest

will become more andmore important

Agree Neither agree nor disagree Disagree DK

Compared with research funded by the Member States, to what extent do you think collaborative research funded by the EU …


Future applications of science

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

Cloning human beings so that couples can have ababy when one partner has a genetic disease

Implanting into our brain a tiny computer chip

Storing everyone's genetic data so that criminals canbe caught easily

Introducing satellite surveillance systems into cars tomonitor stolen vehicles and traffic violations

Protecting and re-introducing in their naturalenvironment wild animals that are now nearly extinct

In all circumstances Only if highly regulated and controlled Only in exceptional circumstances Never DK

Here is a list of possible future applications of s&t over the next 20 years. To what extent, if at all, do uou approve its use?


RTD info http://europa.eu.int/comm/research/rtdinfo_en.html

General information on research http://europa.eu.int/comm/research

Information on the research programmes http://www.cordis.lu

Information requests

[email protected]

More information


Eurobarometers 2001 and 2002

Eurobarometers (since 1973) In 2001: 16,000 people interviewed, aged 15+, in 15

Member States Same survey carried out in 13 Candidate Countries

in 2002 (12,000 people)

http://europa.eu.int/comm/research/press/2001/pr0612en.html


Candidate countries:•Bulgaria•Cyprus•Estonia•Hungary•Latvia•Lithuania•Malta•Poland•Czech Republic•Romania•Slovenia•Slovakia•Turkey

The EU in 2001-2002

EUAustriaBelgiumDenmarkFinlandFranceGermanyGreeceIrelandItalyLuxembourgThe NetherlandsPortugalSpainSwedenUnited Kingdom


Are you interested in ...

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

Sports Politics Economics &Finance

Science &Technology

Culture

Fairly interested

Fairly not interested

DKD, IRL

S,DK, GR, NLManagers,, Students, + +

Educ < 15 yrs, Houseperson,- -, Women



0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80


Science &Technology

Culture

Fairly interested

Fairly not interested

DK

Students


A gap between science and society ?

45% of Europeans are neither interested nor informed about science and technology

Two thirds say they are badly informed


Which s&t developments are you most interested in?

0 20 40 60 80

Nanotechnologies

None of them

Astronomy & space

Socio-economics

Genetics

Internet

Environment

Medicine IRL I

DK

P, GR

IRL, P

IRL

L

NL

F

S, DK

S, UK, NL

IRL, P, UK

Students


Main sources of scientific information

0 20 40 60 80 100

Internet

Scientific magazines

School/university

Radio

Press

TV

Students


Science and the medias

Scientific and technological developments are often presented too negatively (36.5%)

Most journalists dealing with scientific topics do not have the appropriate background or training to do so (53.3%)

I rarely read articles related to science and technology (60.6%)


A scientific quiz ...

0102030405060708090

100

The centre of theEarth is very hot

Radioactive milk canbe made safe by

boiling it

Electrons are smallerthan atoms

Antibiotics killviruses and bacteria

Earlier humans livedat the same time as

dinosaurs

2001 1992 Students

Percentage of good answers

15-24 years


Opinions on science

0,0

10,0

20,0

30,0

40,0

50,0

60,0

70,0

80,0

90,0

100,0

0 to 4 5 to 6 7 to 8 9 to 10 11 to 13

Knowledge index

Curing diseases r=0.244

More opportunities for the future r=0.237

Healthier lives r=0.222

More interesting work r=0.2111

Improving the environment r=0.287

More important benefits r=0.136

New inventions neutralise r=0.081

Eradicating poverty r=0.078

Automation, more jobs r=0.04

Inexhaustible resources r=-0.082

Solving all problems r=-0.019


Scientists’ responsibilities

0 20 40 60 80 100

Scientists are responsible for themisuse of their discoveries

A discovery is neither good norbad

Scientists should be obliged torespect ethical standards

Scientists should be free to carryout the research they wishS&Twill improve farming and food

production

Percentage of people who tend to agree

Students


Which professions do you respect most?

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

Medical doctors Scientists Engineers Judges Businessmen/women

Students


0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

0_4 5_6 7_8 9_10 11_13

Knowledge index

A specific case: GMOs

Genetically modified food (GMO) is dangerous

True (% interviewees)


30

35

40

45

50

55

60

65

70

Science lessonsnot appealing

Science toodifficult

Not interested inscience

Salaries notattractive

Negative imageof science

EU15Students

Science and the young people


Support to European research

How to improve European research:– Improve co-operation between researchers (84.1%)– Better co-ordinate research (80.4%)– Improve co-operation between public research and industry

(78.7%) Strong support to ERA Enlargement positive for both candidate countries and current Member

States


About enlargement

0 20 40 60 80 100

Enlargement will improve S&Tpotential of new MS

Enlargement will improve S&Tpotential of current MS

Students


Eurobarometer Candidate Countries

First Eurobarometer (2002.3) on science in Eastern/Central Europe

13 Candidate Countries: 12,247 people interviewed, aged 15+, in November 2002

On average 1000 people interviewed by country (Cyprus and Malta: 500 people each)


General trends

Lower interest in science and technology than in EU15

Attitudes toward science and technology much more positive than in EU15

Scientific literacy lower than EU15 People quite critical about journalists reporting

on science People less concerned about ethical issues

than in EU15



0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70


Science &Technology

Culture

EU

CCD, IRL

S,DK, GR, NL

CY, HUN, MT, SI

TR


Science in the medias

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

CY

MT

TR

HU

N

LT

CC

13

BU

CZ

RO

SK

SV

PL

EE

LV

Media

Journalists

Do you agree?• Science is presented too negatively in the media (=Q1)• Journalists have no sufficient background to report on science (=Q2)

% of people who agree


Scientific literacy

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

CZ SL HUN EE EU15 SK PL LV CC13 BU LT CY MT RO TR

Average number of correct answers


Level of optimism about science

Means, by country (12 questions)

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

TR PL MT CC13 HUN LT EE RO CY LV SK BU CZ EU15 SL


Scientists are dangerous(Because of their knowledge, scientists have a power that makes them dangerous)

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

MT LV HUN CY EU15 SL PL CZ SK CC13 EE TR BU RO LT



What are the s&t developments in which you are most interested?

0 20 40 60 80

Nanotechnologies

Astronomy & space

Socio-economics

Genetics

Internet

Environment

Medicine

CC

EU


Sources of information about scientific developments

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

TV Radio Newspapers &magazines

Scientificmagazines

Internet School

CC13 EU15


Have you visited a s&t museumin the last 12 months?

0 10 20 30 40 50

No, too expensive

No, don't know where theyare

No, too far away

No, no time

No, not interested

CC

EU


The scientificness of sciences ...

0 20 40 60 80 100

History

Economics

Astrology

Psychology

Mathematics

Astronomy

Biology

Physics

Medicine

EU15CC13Poly. (EU15)Poly. (CC13)


TR, RO LV, CY

LT, TR, HUN LV, SL, SK


The experimental method

0 10 20 30 40

Administer the drug to 1000people

500 get drug, 500 don't get

500 get drug, 500 get placebo

A scientist wants to know if a certain drug is effective against a disease for which there is no means of prevention, diagnosis or treatment. Which do you think is the scientifically correct approach for testing the drug’s effectiveness?


Do you understand …

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

Global warming Greenhouse eff ect Genetically modified food Drugs developed through

genetic enginnering

Highest differences !


Do you understand …

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

Air pollution Internet Nanotechnologies


Do you think ...

0 20 40 60 80 100

Holes in ozone layer will causemore storms

Greenhouse effect can raise sealevel

Food based on GMOs isdangerous

BSE/mad cow results fromhormones

S&T will improve farming andfood production

Mad cow disease poses nodanger for humans

Sunshine can be bothdangerous and beneficial

Percentage of people who think this is true


Do you agree ?

0 20 40 60 80 100

S&T are making our liveshealthier, easier …

Thanks to S&T natural resourceswill be inexhaustibe

We depend too much on scienceand not enough on faith

S&T cannot improveenvironment

Scientists should be allowed toexperiment on animals …

Because of their knowledgescientists are dangerous

S&T can sort any problem



Do you agree ?

0 20 40 60 80

Application of S&T will make work more intersting

Internet will improve the quality of life

The benefits of science are greater than harmful effects it couldhave

Thanks to S&T there will be more opportunities for futuregenerations

S&T will help eliminate poverty and hunger around the world

In my daily life it is not important to know about science



About research ...

0 20 40 60 80 100

Fundamental research is essential for new technologies

Computers will create more jobs

Research should be supported by governments

S&T are important for industrial development

Many high-tech products are just gadgets

Scientists should be allowed to experiment on animals if this canhelp sort out human health problems



Which professions do you respect most?

01020304050607080

Medic

al d

octo

rs

Scient

ists

Engineers

Judges

Sportsm

en/w

omen

Journ

alists

Busine

ssmen/w

omen

Politic

ians

EU15

CC13


Science and the young people

People in the candidate countries are not sure if there is a scientific vocational crisis

Causes for declining interest in scientific studies and careers:– Salaries and career not sufficiently appealing (52%; EU15 43%)

– Science classes at school not sufficiently appealing (52%; EU15 60%)

– Scientific subjects are too difficult (45%; EU15: 55%)

– Young people less interested in scientific subjects (42%; EU15: 50%) «The authorities should try to resolve this situation»

(67%; EU15: 60%) It is a major threat to future socio-economic development

(47%; EU15: 42%)


Support to European research

How to improve European research:– Improve co-operation between researchers (79% agree; EU15: 84%)

– Improve co-operation between public research and industry (77%; EU15 79%)

– Better co-ordinate research (70%; EU15: 80%)

– There should be more women in European scientific research (58%; EU15: 67%)

– Europeans should be less concerned about ethical issues (58%; EU15: 67%)

Strong support to ERA Enlargement positive for both candidate countries and current

Member States


About the European Union

0 20 40 60 80 100

Foreign affairs

Environment

Agriculture

Research

Regional development

Consumer protection

In which of the following policy areas do you think the EU is active?


About enlargement

0 20 40 60 80 100

Enlargement will improveS&T potential of new MS

Enlargement will improveS&T potential of current MS


What can we do about scientific literacy?


Info & com

1. Information ≠ communication

2. Web-technology ►information

3. Information overkill

4. The ‘public’ does not exist

5. Cultural, social and political dimension

message relation


Communicating science

1. European approach US big machinery

2. Public understanding of science Science understanding of the public

3. Scientists: info/com ►public acceptance

4. True communication: consensus conferences, etc


Diversify supports and channels

« Science and Society » action plan (2000)

« Science and Society » programme (2002-2006)

– European Science Week

Information and communication– Magazine & publications

– Web sites

– European press events

– Research headlines

Project participants = « Ambassadors » of science

Eurobarometer Etc.


RTD info http://europa.eu.int/comm/research/rtdinfo/index_en.html

RTD infoMagazine on European Research

85,000 copies Internet and printed 600,000 readers in 140+ countries 4 languages: DE, EN, ES, FR 3-monthly


European Science Weeknow in its 10th year!

Scientific awareness


Promoting a communication culture

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

0 1

FP projects

EC

t

Press events, web site, RTD info, publications, conferences, etc


Guide to communication and media relations

Establishing target audiences and selecting the appropriate media;

Defining key messages; Preparing and supplying

information to the press; Building good relationships

with journalists; Evaluating results; Maximising the exposure of

news stories and press articles, and

Tapping useful Commission resources


CER 2005

14-15 November 2005 Max 3 000 participants Hands-on workshops and tutorials Exhibition Participants’ forum Press programme FP7 presentation Plenary sessions

Communication successes and failures from European projects

New trends in science and technology communication How do scientists see communication? Television and science: 2 worlds apart? Science on radio Science journalists: allies or just journalists? Science in schools


A European challenge

AlphaGalileo

EC

Cordis

Etc.


Bringing the good wordBringing the good word to Member Statesto Member States

►44 media events in 2003►3 kilos of articles!

Biggest campaign ever to study the ozone layer and ozone loss

54 journalists

70+ press reports


Media briefings

0 50 100 150

Ozone, 2000(SE)

CarboEurope,2002 (ES)

Descartes,2002 (DE)

Youngscientists,2003 (HU)

Articles

TV

Radio


Research Directorate-General

Information and communication Unit

[email protected] +32-2-295 99 71

Fax +32-2-295 82 20

The End

Documents

Eurobarometer 2005 - 1 Europeans, Science and Technology Michel Claessens Information and Communication Unit Research DG European Commission