Sage Journals: Discover world-class research

Abstract

One possible way of solving the problem with the cross-cultural validity of the indicators of public understanding of science is analysis of the latent structure of sets of statements used in previous surveys. The factor analysis of eighteen statements from Eurobarometer 224 (2005) reveals three stable replicable latent dimensions—Evaluation, Efficacy and Control. The Efficacy dimension was replicated in the data of thirty-four countries participating in the survey. This dimension was not replicated only in Northern Ireland. The Control dimension was not replicated only in East Germany, Turkey and Norway. It is shown that the Evaluation and Efficacy dimension correlate and form new second-order dimension ‘Science is for others’ vs ‘Science is for us’.

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Bauer, M. , K. Petkova and P. Boyadjieva (2000), ‘ Public Knowledge of and Attitudes to Science. Alternative Measurement that May End the “Science War” ’, Science Technology and Human Values, 25(1), pp. 30–52 .

European Commission (2005), ‘Special Eurobarometer 224: Europeans, Science & Technology’, Brussels .

Fiske, S.T. , A.J.C. Cuddy , P.S. Glick and J. Xu (2002), ‘ A Model of (Often Mixed) Stereotype Content: Competence and Warmth Respectively Follow from Perceived Status and Competition ’, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 82(6), pp. 878–902 .

Goldberg, L.R. (1981), ‘Developing a Taxonomy of Trait-descriptive Terms’, in D. W. Fiske (ed.), Problems with Language Imprecision: New Directions for Methodology of Social and Behavioral Science. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass , No. 9, pp. 43–65.

Miller, J. (1998), ‘ The Measurement of Civic Scientific Literacy ’, Public Understanding of Science, 7(3), pp. 203–23 .

Osgood, C.E. , G. Suci and P. Tannenbaum (1957), The Measurement of Meaning. Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press .

Peeters, G. (1983), ‘Relational and Informational Patterns in Social Cognition’, in W. Doise and S. Moscovici (eds), Current Issues in European Social Psychology. UK: Maison des Sciences de l’Homme and Cambridge University Press , pp. 201–37.

Peeters, G. (1992), ‘ Evaluative Meanings of Adjectives In Vitro and In Context: Some Theoretical Implications and Practical Consequences of Positive-Negative Asymmetry and Behavioral-Adaptive Concepts of Evaluation ’, Psychologica Belgica, 32(2), pp. 211–31 .

Peeters, G. (1995), ‘What’s Negative About Hatred and Positive About Love? On Negation in Cognition, Affect, and Behavior’, in H. C.M. de Swart and L.J.M. Bergman (eds), Perspectives on Negation. Tilburg: Tilburg University Press , pp. 123–33.

10.

Saucier, G. and L.R. Goldberg (2001), ‘ Lexical Studies of Indigenous Personality Factors: Premises, Products, and Prospects ’, Journal of Personality, 69(6), pp. 847–79 .

In Search of the Universal Dimensions of Public Perception of Science

Abstract

Get full access to this article

References