Attitudes to Science in 144 countries – re-examining the Wellcome Global Monitor of 2018

  1. Martin W Bauer
  2. Bankole Falade
  3. Luke Yuh-Yuh Li
  4. Petra Pansegrau
  5. Carmelo Polino
  6. Ahmet Suerdem
Proceedings:
2021 PCST Conference

Publisher: PCST - The Global Network for Science Communication

Year of publication: 2021

Type: Conference paper

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Abstract

Science is universal, but science culture remains local. The cultural authority of science is globally variable. Within this complex of research, a perennial question concerns the relationship of general attitudes as a horizon for specific issues, often controversial at least in some world regions, such as vaccination. The Wellcome Trust’s Global Monitor offers a unique platform to assess this issue on a global scale of 144 countries (n=144,000 interviews, conducted 2018). This symposium will re-examine this data using the PREK model [promise, reserve, engagement and knowledge) of science attitudes with focus on different world regions (Bauer & Suerdem, 2016 and 2019). Knowledge indicators include ‘self-confidence’ and ‘image of science’, engagement indicators are ‘information seeking’ and ‘polyphasia science & religion’; promise is assessed by utility assessments of science, and the key reserve index is ‘vaccination hesitancy’. The five speakers will each assess the complex of these four indicators in a world region and examine the specifics of the culture of science in that world region. Geography is not destiny, so socio-economic indicators will be coming into the frame of analysis. The symposium will be commented on by Petra Pansegrau (Uni Bielefeld) and Rajesh Shukla (Price, Delhi).