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BEHIND THE NUMBERS:THE MEASUREMENT OF THE PUBLIC

UNDERSTANDING OF SCIENCE IN SOUTH AFRICA

Saahier Parker

Human and Social Dynamics: ‘Public engagement for good governance: the role of the Humanities

DST, HSRC and MISTRA, Date: 11 March 2015

HSRC - CeSTII

You can kill a virus No you can’t. You can deactivate it, destroy it, but you can’t kill it

Lightning doesn’t strike twice in the same placeLightning actually doesn’t care, it follows the path of least

resistance, sometimes more than once

One false move at the LHC at CERN will kill us allThe scale of the work at CERN is too small

How then does the public engage, acquire, assimilate and use scientific knowledge?

Scientific literacy & the Public understanding of science

• A public suitably skilled and competent in the acquisition, application and transmission of information (in all fields) -a valuable national asset.

• The Public-Science intersection has been noted since before the 17th century.

• Formal science measurement is more recent, and gathered increasing momentum following the 1960’s, particularly in the USA and Europe.

Evolution of the discourse…Period and Research Paradigm Attribution Deficit Research Areas

Science Literacy1960’s onward

Public deficit of knowledgeMeasures of literacy, Educational policy

Public Understanding of Science1985

Public deficit of attitudeseducation

Knowledge and AttitudesAttitude formation and change

Science and Society2000 onward

Trust deficit, Expert deficit, Public confidence

Public participation, Mediators of science, Evaluations of impact

Adapted from Bauer, M., Allum, N. & Miller, S. 2007 page 80

Public understanding in South Africa

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Political Affiliation

Nationality

Employment Status

Access to government

Access to information

Educational Level

Race

Gender

Income High Gini

Age Ethnicity

HIV Status

Culture

Religion Social Class

Author Title YearPouris Public understanding and appreciation of science among the public in South Africa 1991

Pouris Public understanding and Appreciation of Science among South African Teenagers 1993

HSRC Omnibus Survey 1995

IEA Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS)  1995

FRD-HSRC SA Science and Technology Indicators - Public Understanding of Science chapter  1995

Laugksch Test for Scientific Literacy and its application in assessing scientific literacy of matriculants entering universities and technikons  1996

HSRC EPOP 1999

IEA Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS)  1999

Pouris Interests, Public Attitudes and Sources of Scientific information in South Africa 2001Blankley and Arnold 

(FRD) Public Understand of Science in South Africa – aiming for better intervention strategies 2001

Goolam The scientific and technological literacy of first year physics students: the effects of a traditional school curriculum  2001

HSRC SASAS: Biotechnology survey 2004

IEA Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS)  2003

Pouris Assessing Public Support for biotechnology in South Africa  2004

Conradie The role of key role players in science communication at South African higher education institutions: an exploratory study  2004

HSRC SASAS: climate change 2007

Reddy et al Public understanding of science in South Africa 2010

HSRC The Public Understanding of Biotechnology in the Media 2010

HSRC Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS)  2011

HSRC SASAS module: Public attitudes toward nuclear technology and energy in South Africa 2011

Empirical studies of public understanding of science and scientific literacy in South Africa. Adapted from Reddy et al, 2009

Recent empirical work:• Reddy et al 2013 published: Public attitudes to

science in South Africa (S Afr J Sci. 2013)

• Surveyed 3 183 participants using a module in the 2010 wave of South African Social Attitudes Survey

• Survey covered all 9 provinces, race groups and genders, aged 16 years and older, in multiple languages

• The module consisted of 20 questions across 3 sections- attitudes toward science, scientific knowledge, sources of scientific information

Results: South Africa (2010)Reddy et al 2013 

• Demographic variables differentiate a number of stratified publics in South Africa.

• Where possible the 2010 data was compared with 1999 data from the HSRC-EPOP survey

• Results indicate a dynamic range of attitudes to science – both positive and negative attitudes

• Comparison with 1999 HSRC-EPOP results similarly indicate a change in overall promise and reservation indices in South Africa

Results: South Africa (2010)Reddy et al 2013 

Public space

Books/magazines

Other people

Internet

Newspapers

Radio

Television

0 10 20 30 40 50 60

14

23

24

24

27

41

50

%

Results: South Africa (2013)Reddy et al 2014 

So what? What does this mean? 

• What is the purpose of public understanding of science (PUS) surveys in South Africa?

• What opportunities have been identified and how are the varied public(s) impacted by the contribution of STI to social and economic progress in South Africa?

• Can the system be effectively integrated and harmonized toward greater efficiency ?

• Future directions for research?

Planned work• Conduct empirical research to contribute to the growing series of data on the public understanding of science in South Africa

• Key dimensions of measurement include knowledge, attitude toward science, interest in science, level of informdness and involvement in science engagement activities

Planned work• Demographic analysis will inform the development of a segmentation model for the South African PublicS

• A further output will be the development of the first South African Science Culture Index (Shukla and Bauer)

• The development of indicators for the measurement of the public understanding of science in South Africa  

• Fieldwork will commence in September 2015 results will be available Q2 2016.

Thank You

Contact:Saahier Parker

Centre for Science, Technology and Innovation Indicators (CeSTII)Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC)

 

 

SPARKER@HSRC.AC.ZA12th Floor

Plein Park Building 69 - 83 Plein Street

Cape Town 8001

South Africa

Tel: +27 21 466 7814 Cell: +27 (0) 82 928 7473

Skype: Saahier