Measuring Scientific Interest: The Effect of Knowledge Questions on Interest Ratings  

Oleh:

Gaskell, George ; Wright, Daniel ; O’Muircheartaigh, Colm

Jenis: Article from Journal - ilmiah internasional
Dalam koleksi: Public Understanding of Science vol. 2 no. 1 (Jan. 1993), page 39-57.
Fulltext: 39PUS21.pdf (792.21KB)

Isi artikel

Reseamh into the publics’ inmest in, knowledgc of and attitudes towards science has captured the attention of politicians and educators. Sample survey research has been employed to auss the diverse aspects of the public understanding of sclnce. However, surveys are subject to various biases that may &at the findings, calling into question both the reliability and the validity of the m e a ” concerned. In this study we look at one common bias-that of context dects. Context effects occur when a question influences responss to later questions. The decb of answering one of four different sets of science questions (physical or life scienq and easy or dilficult questions) on what people qmrt as their interest in science and what they think science is, were investigated using a split ballot format (n=2099). Two approaches from social psychology, framing and consistency, are used to predict the dects of these knowledge questions on subsequent responses. Context &ab were found and were more in line with ihe framing aplanation. The results Signal the need for caution in interpreting findings from surveys of the public understanding of science.

Opini Anda

Klik untuk menuliskan opini Anda tentang koleksi ini!

Kembali