Science Barometer 2014

The science barometers 2014 to 2016 were sponsored by the Philip Morris Foundation, the science barometers 2017 to 2019 by the Robert Bosch Foundation. Topics: 1. Interest in and awareness of science and research: awareness of selected news topics (sports, politics, new discoveries in science and research and in medicine); area with the greatest need for improvement in the city or community; interest in scientific topics. 2.

Information behaviour on science and research: frequency of dealing with the subject of science in selected contexts (reading articles on scientific topics, discussions with friends and family on the subject of science and research and attending events on these topics); visiting institutions related to science in the last twelve months (e.g. science museum, zoo or aquarium). 3. Participation and involvement of citizens in science and research: involvement in decisions on science and research personally important; sufficient involvement of the public in science and research; insufficient efforts by scientists to inform the public about their work; preferred topic for discussion with a scientist (open). 4.

Evaluation of the benefits and risks of science for society: attitude towards science (people trust science too much instead of feelings and beliefs, science harms more than it benefits, scientists know best what is good for society). 5. Trust in science and scientists on selected topics (climate change, creation of the universe, renewable energies and green genetic engineering). 6. Relationship between science and politics: to what extent does science influence politics. 7.

Public funding of science and research: preference for decisions on research funding (political, economic, scientific or citizen); investment in basic research to create jobs; opinion on how to manage research spending in the context of reduced government spending. 8. Science and research in the future: most important research area for the future; influence of science on the lives of future generations (improvements for life, both improvements and problems, more problems). 9.

Current topic: attitude towards scientific research on fracking; interest in citizen science projects. Demography: sex; age; education; occupation; household size; net household income. Additionally coded was: interview ID; weight; city size (BIK); federal state; region.