Chapter 7: Science & Engineering Indicators 93
Primary Data Sources
The analysis reported in this chapter rests primarily on three major data sources, as described below.
- NSF Survey of Public Understanding of Science and Technology, 1979-92: Most of the U.S. data in this chapter come from a series of national surveys funded by the National Science Foundation
(NSF). The most recent survey, conducted in 1992, consisted of telephone interviews with 2,001 adults aged 18 and over in a national probability sample. It contained a core of questions that have been asked in these studies since 1979.
- NIH Survey of Public Understanding of Biomedical Concepts, 1993: In a joint program with NSF, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) sponsored a national study of public understanding of
biomedical concepts. A total of 3,111 telephone interviews were conducted, using a national sample stratified by race/ethnicity. Within each stratum, a national probability sample was selected, but oversamples of college graduates were collected in
the black and Hispanic strata to compensate for the distribution of educational attainment. The final analytic file was weighted to reflect the U.S. population
- Eurobarometer 38-1: Continuing its 20-year series of biennial surveys, the European Community conducted a survey of 13,024 adults in its 12 member nations in fall 1992. The interviews were conducted in person in the native language of the
respondent.
- Japan National Study, 1991. Sponsored by the National Institute of Science and Technology Policy (NISTEP), the 1991 study was based on in-person interviews with 1,457 adults aged 18 and over. A core set of
questions was designed to allow comparisons with the Eurobarometer studies and the U.S. Science Indicators studies.
- Data Availability. The Eurobarometer data can be obtained from Zentralarchiv fur Europaische Social forschung, Koln Universitat, Germany (Fax: 49-221-476-9444) and Institute of Social Research, University of Michigan, USA (Fax:
(1)-313-747-4575). Data for all four surveys are available from the International Center for the Advancement of Scientific Literacy, Chicago Academy of Sciences. (Internet: icasl@mcs.com) Fax: (312) 549-5199 Phone: (312) 549-0606.
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