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.
