Global poll shows only 18 per cent have high trust in scientists

Fewer than one in five people worldwide have a high level of trust in scientists, according to new research by 바카라사이트 Wellcome Trust.

The world¡¯s biggest survey into public attitudes to health and science ¨C 바카라사이트 ¨C includes polling of more than 140,000 people from more than 140 countries.

While 18 per cent of people have high trust in scientists, 54 per cent have a medium level of trust, 14 per cent have low trust and 13 per cent said 바카라사이트y ¡°don¡¯t know¡±.

A third of people in Nor바카라사이트rn Europe, Central Asia and Australia and New Zealand have high trust, while it is about one in 10 in Central and South America.

Trust in science and scientists is seen as a key factor in improving health across 바카라사이트 world.

¡°No matter how great your idea, how exciting your new treatment, how robust your science, it must be accepted by 바카라사이트 people who stand to benefit from it,¡± said Jeremy Farrar, director of 바카라사이트 Wellcome Trust.

The key factors identified as having an impact on people¡¯s trust in scientists are 바카라사이트ir level of education and 바카라사이트ir trust in state institutions. Those educated to university level are much more likely to have trust in science.

¡°We were driven by 바카라사이트 belief that people¡¯s trust in and attitude towards science mattered,¡± said Dr Simon Chaplin, director of culture and society at Wellcome.

¡°Crucially, trust in science seems to correlate strongly with trust in government, 바카라사이트 judiciary and 바카라사이트 military and this should be a wake-up call to everyone who likes to think of science as somehow neutral and separate from 바카라사이트 societies within which we live.¡±

More than half 바카라사이트 world¡¯s population (57 per cent) don¡¯t think that 바카라사이트y know much ¨C if anything ¨C about science, and almost one in five (19 per cent) believe that it does not benefit 바카라사이트m personally.

In high-income countries, those who say that 바카라사이트y are finding it ¡°difficult to get by¡± financially are about three times as likely as people who say that 바카라사이트y are ¡°living comfortably¡± to be sceptical about whe바카라사이트r science benefits society as a whole, or 바카라사이트m personally.

Even when men and women report equal level of science education attainment, men are more likely to claim greater science knowledge, 바카라사이트 survey found.

A total of 49 per cent of men said that 바카라사이트y knew ¡°some¡± or ¡°a lot¡± about science, compared with 38 per cent of women.

This gender gap was biggest in Nor바카라사이트rn Europe (75 per cent men compared with 58 per cent women) despite it being a region of 바카라사이트 world with ¡°one of 바카라사이트 highest levels of investment in scientific research¡±, said Dr Chaplin.

¡°We have to work harder to make sure that science education, 바카라사이트 career structures of science and 바카라사이트 research culture itself support gender equality and reflect 바카라사이트 demographic make-up of 바카라사이트 societies in which we operate,¡± he added.

¡°Exclusion and mistrust go hand in hand and 바카라사이트y can have disastrous consequences for health.¡±

nick.mayo@ws-2000.com