Scientific research in the media

Special Eurobarometer European Commission Scientific research in the media Fieldwork: April – May 2007 Publication: December 2007 Report This survey was requested by Directorate-General for Research and coordinated by Directorate-General for Communication. This document does not represent the point of view of the European Commission. The interpretations and opinions contained in it are solely those of the authors. Special EUROBAROMETER 282 SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH IN THE MEDIA Table of contents PRESENTATION.................................................................................................. 2 1 INTEREST IN SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH............................................................. 3 1.1 Interest in scientific research in general....................................................... 3 1.2 Sources of information about scientific research...........................................12 2 EVALUATION OF THE PRESENCE OF SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH IN THE MEDIA.. 16 2.1 Satisfaction with information presented about scientific research....................16 2.2 Importance of scientific research in the media..............................................18 2.3 Characteristics of information on scientific research presented by the media.....24 2.4 European research in the media .................................................................31 3 PREFERENCES AND EXPECTATIONS REGARDING THE PRESENCE OF SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH IN THE MEDIA......................................................... 36 3.1 Presenting scientific research in the media..................................................36 3.2 Preferred source of information on scientific research ...................................45 3.3 Presenting scientific research topics on TV ..................................................53 3.4 Presenting scientific research topics in newspapers.......................................57 CONCLUSION.................................................................................................... 59 ANNEXES Technical note Questionnaire Data tables - 1 - Special EUROBAROMETER 282 SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH IN THE MEDIA PRESENTATION Scientific discoveries and their practical applications can promote industrial development and social advancement. Research, innovation and new technologies influence economic, social, political and even sometimes ethical dimensions of modern societies. Thus their impact on the everyday life of EU citizens requires the increased attention of decision-makers. In 2000 the European Council set a strategic goal for Europe called the Lisbon strategy. Its objective was to make the EU the most competitive and dynamic knowledge-based economy in the world. In line with this target and to promote sustainable growth and more and better jobs, the EU is focusing on boosting research and development. The creation of the European Research Area that brings Community resources together to better coordinate research and innovation activities in the European Union also supports these goals. Furthermore the fact that the Seventh Framework Programme for research (2007-2013) has a longer perspective and larger budget than its predecessor programme reflects the priority given to research. These developments create a need for effective communication with the public on scientific research activities and results. The media can play a crucial role as an interface in the science domain, helping to increase public support and understanding regarding the need to create a knowledge-based society. In addition, it could contribute to encouraging investments in research and justifying public funding. By attracting the attention of the young towards science a solid basis can be created for next generation of scientists which is essential for the lasting competitiveness of the EU. The European Commission regularly carries out opinion polls, in order to learn how to motivate European citizens to become more involved in science, research and innovation. For this reason the Directorate-General for Research launched this special Eurobarometer survey to explore what the media could do to achieve this goal. Interviews were conducted face-to-face in people’s homes, in their national language, between the 10th of April and the 15th of May 2007. The countries surveyed were the 27 Member States of the European Union. The methodology used is that of the Standard Eurobarometer polls, managed by the Directorate-General for Communication (unit “Opinion polls and Media Monitoring”). In the annex, a technical note details the interview techniques used by the institutes of the TNS Opinion & Social network, as well as levels of confidence. The analysis firstly inquires into the level of interest in scientific research in the EU population. It then concentrates on citizens’ evaluation of how scientific research is presented in the media. Finally, it explores EU citizens’ preferences and expectations regarding the media’s treatment of this topic. For each theme addressed, our analysis1 looks at the: • European Union as a whole; • Individual countries; • Socio-demographic variables; • Other variables which we systematically cross-tabulated with the results for each question.2 1 In some cases, due to the rounding of figures, displayed sums can show a difference of one point with the sum of the individual cells. Also, note that the total percentages shown in the tables of this report may exceed 100% where the respondent is allowed to give several answers to a particular question. 2 Being interested in scientific research (results for QB2); use of different media for obtaining information on scientific research (QB4.1- QB4.5), being satisfied with the way the media provide information about scientific research (QB5) and trust in different media (QB8). - 2 - Special EUROBAROMETER 282 SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH IN THE MEDIA 1 INTEREST IN SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH 1.1 Interest in scientific research in general - European public opinion regards medicine and the environment as the most interesting topics in the field of scientific research - Questionnaire source: QB13 When EU citizens are asked what news related issues they are interested in they give a wide variation of responses. Sport heads the overall ranking of interests at 40%. Around a third of Europeans surveyed cite entertainment and celebrities (35%), politics (34%) as well as arts and culture (32%). Scientific research is mentioned by 31%. Economy is slightly less cited, by 28% of EU citizens. These figures suggest a quite balanced picture of European society’s diverse news interests. QB1 Which of the following news related issues are you most interested in…? (MAX. 3 ANSWERS) - % EU27 Sports Entertainment and celebrities Politics Arts and Culture Scientific research Economy Other (SPONT.) 5% 40% 35% 34% 32% 31% 28% DK 3% It is worth mentioning, that in a previous Eurobarometer study in 20054 EU citizens expressed more interest in new ‘scientific discoveries’ (78%) than in politics (71%) or in sports news (68%). Respondents might have felt the expression ‘scientific discoveries’ to be more related to their everyday life than ‘scientific research’, the term used in this survey. These figures can not be directly compared with current results for two reasons: Firstly, respondents in the current survey had to choose three items from a list of topics, meanwhile in 2005 each item was the subject of separate questions with a scale of interest (very interested, moderately interested and not at all interested). Secondly, the wording of the questions is not exactly the same. 3 Which of the following news related issues are you most interested in…? 4Europeans, Science and Technology; Special Eurobarometer 224, Wave 63.1 http://ec.europa.eu/public_opinion/archives/ebs/ebs_224_report_en.pdf QA1 Let us talk about those issues in the news which interest you. For each issue I read out, please tell me if you are very interested, moderately interested or not at all interested in it. - 3 - Special EUROBAROMETER 282 SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH IN THE MEDIA Whereas news on politics (35% in the EU15 vs. 29% in the 12 new Member States), arts and culture (33% vs. 28%) but especially scientific research (34% vs. 19%) arouse more interest in the 15 old Member States; entertainment and celebrities seem to attract more attention in the new Member States (31% in the EU15 vs. 46% in the NMS). As with the EU level, in 8 out of the 27 Member States - especially in Ireland (54%) -sports news is ranked in first place in terms of interest. In another 8 countries, mainly new Member States, entertainment and celebrities are the most popular topic. In Denmark (62%), the Netherlands (53%), Germany (52%) and Estonia (45%) respondents are most interested in politics, while in Latvia (41%) arts and culture is the most frequently cited answer. Finally, Swedish (56%), Greek (51%), French (46%), Belgian (45%), Cypriot (45%) and Luxembourgish (45%) citizens express the greatest interest in scientific research. More than four out of ten Danish (49%), Finnish (43%) and Dutch (41%) respondents are interested in scientific research ranking it in second place. QB1 Which of the following news related issues are you most interested in…? (MAX. 3 ANSWERS) Sports EU27 40% BE 42% BG 32% CZ 46% DK 39% DE 38% EE 39% EL 30% ES 40% FR 42% IE 54% IT 33% CY 36% LV 37% LT 35% LU 40% HU 37% MT 38% NL 39% AT 45% PL 39% PT 45% RO 39% SI 48% SK 44% FI 48% SE 45% UK 43% Entertainment and celebrities 35% 33% 43% 43% 35% 38% 40% 37% 25% 28% 42% 25% 34% 38% 40% 30% 45% 47% 24% 53% 43% 42% 57% 31% 50% 33% 26% 32% Politics 34% 32% 39% 22% 62% 52% 45% 39% 19% 39% 29% 22% 42% 33% 28% 40% 24% 30% 53% 37% 27% ... - tailieumienphi.vn