A Qualitative Analysis of Selected Questions in the Science and Engineering Indicators Module of the General Social Survey

本项目将研究综合社会调查模块中现有问题的一个子集，该模块旨在衡量“科学的文化权威”，即公众对科学知识的可信度、确定性和政治效用的看法，以及科学家和工程师的可信度和无私性。该研究将检查GSS问题的子集，并评估当前措辞的有效性和可靠性。我们的目标是更好地了解受访者在听到这些问题时的实际想法，以及他们的思考过程是如何导致他们的答案的。研究方法包括认知访谈、小规模电话调查和行为编码。虽然时间序列分析依赖于GSS模块未来迭代中措辞的一致性，但研究可能会发现，受访者会被某些问题的现有措辞所迷惑或误导，并且通过重写某些问题，总体上可以提高对公众对s&p；E态度的理解。这项工作的结果是，科学社会学家和政策分析师在对GSS科学模块提供的数据进行学术分析时将有更大的信心。

This project will examine a subset of existing questions in the General Social Survey module designed to measure the "cultural authority of science," that is, public perceptions about the credibility, certainty, and political utility of scientific knowledge, and the trustworthiness and disinterestedness of scientists and engineers. The research will examine a subset of GSS questions and assess the validity and reliability of present wording. The goal is to better understand what respondents are actually thinking when they hear these questions and what thought-processes lead up to their answers. The research methods include cognitive interviewing, a small-scale telephone survey, and behavior coding. Although time-series analyses depend upon consistency of wording in future iterations of the GSS module, the research may discover that respondents are confused or misled by extant wording of some questions and that the understanding of public attitudes toward S&E in general would be improved by rewriting certain questions. As a result of this work, sociologists of science and policy analysts will have greater confidence as they undertake scholarly analysis of data provided by the GSS science module.