Capturing public unease

Abstract

Nowhere has the public become more distrustful of scientists than in the UK, following some major agricultural and health scandals. But Britain's Royal Society is now trying to do something about it. Nigel Williams reports.Astronomers may feel hard done by in the funding battles but they have one crumb of comfort: the public shows considerable interest and support for their work. But researchers in many other fields, including life science areas, are often perceived in a quite different light and are increasingly losing the public's trust. This is nowhere more so than in the UK following the devastating occurrence of the BSE epidemic, foot and mouth disease, animal cloning etc.Such are the concerns about the lack of trust in scientists, the Royal Society, Britain's science academy, has set up a programme to gather systematically public opinion with a view to developing a number of key priorities on which it can take action.So with independent funding — the Society was keen not to use government funding for such a study — they arranged a series of regional workshops where members of the public were invited to come along and discuss their concerns about scientists.The results of these meetings were compiled into a number of themes which were presented at the first National Forum for Science held in London in March. Four main themes were thought to capture most of the public's concerns. First, lack of control of applied science. The public felt a lack of involvement and influence and that regulation was inadequate. Second, the need for information. Information was felt to be controlled by powerful groups and there was a lack of funding transparency. Third, communication and the media. The public found sensation-seeking reporting of complex issues confusing and frightening and that scientists often don't understand the public's needs. Finally, education and understanding. The public was not well informed about the difference between science and its application and the difficulty in understanding relative risk and probabilities.Ahead of the meeting the Royal Society also commissioned a telephone poll to identify the science-related issues causing greatest concern. The results from more than 1,000 people polled revealed that the top five issues are: biological weapons (74 per cent of respondents), global warming (70 per cent of respondents), genetic modification of food and animals (60 per cent of respondents), BSE/CJD (55 per cent of respondents) and nuclear power (53 per cent of respondents).Paul Nurse, director of the charity Cancer Research UK, and chairman of the Royal Society's Science in Society initiative who was also a panel member at the National ForumNational Forum said ‘The two big issues, biological weapons and global warming, have received a lot of media attention and are genuinely frightening issues. The other three issues, genetic modification, BSE/CJD and nuclear power, are all ones which have shaken public confidence in the scientific advice coming out of government.’ David King, the government's chief scientific adviser and panel member, said that it was important to try to recover confidence in science. ‘There's a real need to be open and transparent with the public.’Fig. 1National Forum panel: (l to r) Charles Secrett, executive director of Friends of the Earth, Margaret Beckett, agriculture secretary, Douglas Parr, chief scientist, Greenpeace, David King, chief government scientific adviser and Fay Wheldon, novelist.View Large Image | View Hi-Res Image | Download PowerPoint SlideThe poll also asked questions about the funding and reporting of science. Over half agreed that the funding of scientific research is becoming too commercialised (55 per cent) and over half again wanted more influence over the type of scientific research that is done (53 per cent). ‘Because of the high publicity given to commercially funded research especially when new venture capital is being raised, the public probably underestimate how much scientific research is actually carried out in the UK by independent university scientists,’ said Nurse.The poll also found that only 39 per cent of respondents agreed with the statement ‘the media present science in a responsible way’.‘The interests of the scientist, the press, the state and the public overlap but do not coincide. It is at the margins that trouble occurs, and where doubt and mistrust breed,’ says novelist Fay Wheldon, one of the Forum panel members.