In 1988, the Ethics and Values Studies Program funded a baseline study of public attitudes and values towards prenatal testing and genetic testing among adults. The long-range interest of the study was in change over time, but the initial support provided for undertaking only one baseline measurement and two ancillary studies: an analysis of media coverage and a survey of the positions taken by various organizations with interests in the new technologies. In the six years since this first measurement, further rapid advances in genetic technology have occurred. Media stories about discoveries of the locations of new genes and of possibilities for new genetic tests are proliferating. Given these rapid developments, and the choices they pose for individuals and society, the time seems ripe for replicating some of the attitudinal measures first obtained in 1990. Funds from other sources have made it possible to replicate the questions on the General Social Survey, fielded in Spring 1996. This award provides funds for the analysis of trends in responses to these questions. Several articles and plans for further research should result from this award.
