Trust in science and research remains high in Switzerland

The trust of the Swiss population in science and research remains high, according to new data generated through the representative survey “Wissenschaftsbarometer Schweiz 2019”. 56% of the participants stated that their trust in science is either “strong” or “very strong”. This figure has remained constant since the first installment of the survey in 2016, when 57% of people stated that their trust in science was high. “Overall, men seem to trust science a bit more than women and younger people more than the older population”, Mike S. Schäfer elaborates. He is a professor at University of Zurich and lead the survey together with Julia Metag, professor at Wilhelms-Universität Münster in Germany. “This means that there is no sweeping reduction in the society’s trust in science”, Schäfer says. “This is in agreement with other results from similar surveys in other countries.”

64% of the surveyed further trust scientists working at universities strongly or very strongly, showing that trust in these scientists is even higher. This is also not strongly different from the results of 2016. Coupled with this high trust is a generally positive image of scientists. “The participants attribute mostly positive characteristics to scientists such as “competent”, “experienced” or “responsible””, says Metag.

Science and research has a positive image

The results of the survey further show that the Swiss population generally has a positive image of science. 64% feel, that science is improving their lives. 73% of the participants deem basic research as necessary and the same percentage agree that science is funded by the state.

The Swiss population wants to be informed about the results of scientific work as well, as 79% feel that scientists are supposed to inform the general public about their work. 36% would like to participate in a scientific project while only 28% want the members of the public to be able to make decisions on which topics are researched.

Climate and energy as the primary areas of research

The most important areas of research for the Swiss population in the next years are climate and energy, followed by research on health and nutrition. Ranked just below on the Swiss population’s priorities are transport and mobility, immigration and integration as well as communication and digitalization.

The internet is a primary source for scientific topics

The most important source for input on science and research is the internet. Information is mainly obtained through Wikipedia or websites and apps of newspapers and magazines on scientific topics. This clearly confirms the progressing digitalization and that the communication of scientific knowledge is changing as well.

Young audience experience science on YouTube

When regarding the entire Swiss population, newspapers and magazines, as well as Wikipedia are the most important sources for scientific knowledge. However, for the younger demographics, YouTube is the primary source or platform on which they get in touch with science and research. 44% of the participants between ages 15 and 34 stated that they obtained information on science via YouTube “often” or “very often” - more than any other source. Facebook and other social networks also play an important role in conveying scientific knowledge to this age group with 30%, while text messaging apps such as WhatsApp (only 9%) are not as important.

Source (German): https://www.chemie.de/news/1163560/vertrauen-in-wissenschaft-und-forschung-ist-nach-wie-vor-hoch.html?pk_campaign=ca0259&WT.mc_id=ca0259

More information on the study can be found on the homepage (available in English): http://www.wissenschaftsbarometer.ch