Should we be concerned that a report of Public Attitudes to Science, commissioned by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, found that almost half of the respondents didn’t think the benefits of science are greater than any harmful effect?
Or that the report also found that many people are concerned about the speed of the development of science (including GM crops) and are worried about what scientists choose to do ‘behind closed doors’?
As with all consumer research, the answers will be influenced by the way and the context in which the questions are phrased. And I think, especially with this topic, it has a lot to do with people’s perception of science and technology, what it is and how it affects their daily life.
People forget that we wouldn’t be able to do a huge number of everyday tasks without scientific developments, and programmes like Bang Goes the Theory have done a great job explaining the theory behind every day things.
The really positive thing I’ve taken from the BIS report is that people appear to have ‘an appetite for hearing more about science’, so rather than shy away from publishing information about our research and science because we think people will be bored by it – we should celebrate it, but make sure we do so in an accessible and engaging way.