Relative Cultural Distance and Public Understanding of Science

Abstract

Public Understanding of Science is an area constituted by those scholars who essentially acquired expertise in various established academic disciplines and shifted their attention towards a few specifi c issues related to the science-society interface. The discipline though recognised as a legitimate area of research has not come out of all its teething problems associated with the formation of any new area.The mainstay, during the fi rst phase of its development was the attitudinal surveys conducted in various countries. The objectives of these surveys were to measure the extent of scientifi c knowledge, probe public attitude towards science or scientists, and at times simply to explore the level of confi dence or lack of confi dence that a common citizen had in science. These surveys gradually turned into an important and regular activity in many countries.The debate that followed the fi rst phase resulted in refi nement of methodology, tools and the models of assessment of Public Understanding of Science. The PAUS group at NISTADS, India, has since 1989 worked on methodology suitable for carrying out surveys

unique fingerprint? Factors influencing attitudes towards science and technology in South Africa

“…As a result, surveys measuring public perceptions turned into a regular activity in many countries. 3 The idea behind this research field is that a combination of interest in and knowledge about science shapes attitudes towards science. In turn, these attitudes affect outcomes such as support for public funding among the voting population.…”

“Science is Everywhere, but No One Knows It”: Assessing the Cultural Distance to Science of Rural South African Publics

“…The cultural distance to science Raza et al (2009) offer a theoretical framework with their notion of cultural distance in which perceptions of science are thoughtfully integrated. Cultural distance 6 exists between science (i.e.…”

“…Hence, based on these criteria, any representative sample is composed of so-called publics who exhibit a larger or smaller cultural distance to science. Although the authors-in empirical investigations-only focus on the question how education influences the cultural distance to science (Raza et al, 2009;Raza & Singh, 2012), theoretically they highlight that the cultural distance is determined by economic conditions, literacy levels, access to media, age, cultural and religious predispositions, and geographical locations. The idea that these factors, taken together, constitute different publics with various distances to science is in line with the approach of segmentation studies that assume that these factors shape perceptions of science.…”

“…For others, perceptions entail very specific experiences, such as science education in school, the proximity of a research lab, or exposure to science news on television (TV). Hence, we propose that no or vague perception(s) of science would mean there is a large cultural distance, while more sophisticated and knowledgeable perceptions of science indicate a smaller cultural distance to science (see also Raza et al, 2002Raza et al, , 2009.…”

“…1 This implies moving beyond the traditional surveys of public perceptions of S&T. Hence, the present study will assess how rural South Africans perceive, experience, and understand science, by making use of theoretical considerations of cultural distance (e.g. Raza, Singh, & Shukla, 2009) and using an exploratory design as well as the methodological approach of segmentations studies (e.g. Hine et al, 2014;Schäfer, Füchslin, Metag, Kristiansen, & Rauchfleisch, 2018;Slater, 1996).…”