The document describes the results of a questionnaire given to 25 people to understand their views and consumption of science. Most respondents were under 20 and did not study science after required education. Additionally, most people accessed science stories a few times a month or less, primarily from the internet, and believed the last story they saw was reliable. The document concludes that science is not portrayed in an interesting way by media, most people do not actively seek out science information, and have too much trust in the reliability of media science stories.

1. Task 1 P2
All people that answered the questionnaire were random, did it voluntarily and were in no rush to
avoid bias.
40
20
0
What age group are
Under
20
Over
20
you in?
What age
group are
you in?
I asked 25 people how old they were. I did this because depending on age, their view on science
could vary due to exposure to it etc (many other variables).
20
10
0
Did you study the sciences
after GCSE at school?
Yes No
Did you study the
sciences after GCSE
at school?
I asked this question because after GCSE studying science is optional, therefore if someone chose to
study it, it would be because they wanted to, hence more likely to have a positive view towards
science. A conclusion can be drawn that on average, students aren’t keen to study science after
GCSE.
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
How often do you acsess
science stories?
Everyday 1-6 times
a week
A few
times a
month
Never
How often do you
acsess science
stories?

2. I asked this question because it not only shows peoples eagerness to update themselves on the
world of science but depending on how often they access science stories could skew their view one
way or another. A conclusion can be drawn that in general people I asked don’t update themselves
frequently in the world of science.
Where do you get your
science stories from?
20%
12%
60%
8%
TV
Internet
Magazines
Newspaper
I thought that this question was appropriate because depending on the medium they get their news
could show how reliable the news they get was. E.g. Tabloid newspapers are often sensationalist and
cannot entirely be trusted.
What was the last science story
52%
20%
8%
20%
you acsessed?
Ebola
GH crops
Probe landing on
comet
Global warming
15
10
5
0
How relaible do you think this
story was (4 being the most
reliable)
1 2 3 4
How relaible do you
think this story was (4
being the most reliable)

3. These two questions were chosen to see which story is dominating the media right now and if
people thought that they were reliable or not. 10 people thought they were very reliable which may
be a problem depending on where they get their information. This could suggest that people are
easily convinced on the authenticity of science stories.
Q: What comes to mind when you think scientist?
White lab coats = 2
High earners = 7
Boring/crazy people = 8
Academic research’s = 5
Solution finders = 3
The general perception of scientist to the people I asked were white lab coats, suggesting they work
in labs and this is how the media portrays them.
Evaluation
From this questionnaire various conclusions can be drawn. The first being that science isn’t
portrayed in a particularly positive or interesting light by the media, this can be found as 32% of
people I asked said that scientist were boring and crazy people, also the fact that 68% of people I
asked that didn’t do science after GCSE suggests that science isn’t a major interest of the average
person under 20. It is also worth pointing out that over 72% of the people I asked actively accessed
science stories a few times a month or less, this further strengthens the point that science isn’t
portrayed in a interesting light in the media as people would be more interested and re ad up on it
more.
Another conclusion could also be drawn that the public have too much trust in media presented
science stories. 40% of people thought the stories they accessed were very reliable when this may
not be the case and without having done research on it themselves. I also found that 60% of people
got their source of science information from the internet which is often very sensationalised and
easy to put out opinions and unproven theories as facts.
The media have a very big role in shaping the public’s attitude on science. As I mentioned previously,
40% of people thought the stories they accessed were very reliable meaning that if a tabloid
newspaper were to release a that GM crops gave people cancer they would be very inclined to
believe it and instantly dismiss the benefits of science on the particular matter, giving them a bad
attitude to science.
If someone wanted to get as much exposure to as many people under 20 as possible through two
mediums the best to choose would be the internet and TV, combined 80% of people got their
information from these places, according to my questionnaire most people would trust the
information too.