Public Perceptions of Who Counts as a Scientist for Controversial Science

Authors

Brianne Suldovsky, Portland State UniversityFollow
Asheley Landrum, Texas Tech University
Natalie Jomini Stroud, University of Texas at Austin

Published In

Public Understanding Of Science (Bristol, England)

Document Type

Citation

Publication Date

6-2019

Abstract

In an era where expertise is increasingly critiqued, this study draws from the research on expertise and scientist stereotyping to explore who the public considers to be a scientist in the context of media coverage about climate change and genetically modified organisms. Using survey data from the United States, we find that political ideology and science knowledge affect who the US public believes is a scientist in these domains. Our results suggest important differences in the role of science media attention and science media selection in the publics "scientist" labeling. In addition, we replicate previous work and find that compared to other people who work in science, those with PhDs in Biology and Chemistry are most commonly seen as scientists.

Rights

© The Author(s) 2019.

Locate the Document

https://doi.org/10.1177/0963662519856768

DOI

10.1177/0963662519856768

Persistent Identifier

https://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/29554

Citation Details

Suldovsky, B., Landrum, A., & Stroud, N. J. (2019). Public perceptions of who counts as a scientist for controversial science. Public Understanding of Science, 28(7), 797-811.