Science and the Public: A Review of Science Communication and Public Attitudes to Science in Britain

This report draws together the results from two major pieces of research–an overview of science communication activities in Britain today, and a detailed understanding of public attitudes to science. By combining the information from both studies, this report aims to inform future science communication strategies for both policy and practice. The research reported here sets a baseline for public attitudes to science, engineering and technology. The survey has been designed to be repeated at regular intervals to monitor any changes in these attitudes. By identifying a number of factors, which together comprise an individual's attitude to science (see Chapter 5.03), six distinct attitudinal groups with differing socioeconomic profiles have been identified. These results provide a resource for all those active in science, engineering and technology communication who wish to develop their own programmes further.