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In The News

Public Understanding of Science - Science Literacy

On Friday, 24 May 1996 the New York Times reported under the title "Americans Flunk Science", on a survey of N=2006 adults for the National Science Foundation. According to the NYT only about a quarter of the people obtained passing grades on the science and economic questions.

Here are the questions from the Survey as extracted from Science & Engineering Indicators (12th ed.) for 1996. In parentheses: percent answering correctly among college graduates, sub-sample size n=260. The sub-sample does not include those with more than a college education, i.e. graduate degrees. In general the likelihood of answering correctly increases with education.

Next month: the answers.

True - False Questions:

  1. The center of the earth is very hot (83)
  2. All radioactivity is man-made (86)
  3. The oxygen we breathe comes from plants (90)
  4. It is the father's gene which decides whether the baby is a boy or girl (74)
  5. Lasers work by focusing sound waves (56)
  6. Electrons are smaller than atoms (64)
  7. Antibiotics kill viruses as well as bacteria (59)
  8. The universe began with a huge explosion (46)
  9. The continents on which we live have been moving their location for millions of years and will continue to move in the future (89)
  10. Human beings, as we know them today, developed from earlier species of animals (61)
  11. Cigarette smoking causes lung cancer (92)
  12. The earliest humans lived at the same time as the dinosaurs (59)
  13. Radioactive milk can be made safe by boiling it (70)
  14. A majority of American workers are members of a union or other collective bargaining organization (57)
  15. Tariffs, that is taxes on imported goods, benefit some groups at the expense of others (84)
  16. A general increase in the tax on goods imported into the United States is likely to result in an increase in the amount of American goods sold to other countries (60)
  17. One of the best ways to increase the productivity of labor is to encourage greater investment in equipment, machinery, and other capital (67)
  18. In a market economy, the level of wages will depend primarily on the level of output per worker (46)

Multiple choice questions:

  1. Which travels faster, light or sound (86)
  2. Does the Earth go around the Sun, or does the Sun go around the Earth? (86)
  3. How long does it take for the Earth to go around the Sun: one day, one month, or one year? (66)
  4. If you were to hear on the news that the Federal Reserve Board is going to tighten the money supply, would you expect interest rates to go up or go down? (83)
  5. If you had $ 1,000 to invest and did not want to lose it, which one of the following investments would be safest for you to buy: municipal bonds, US treasury bonds, preferred stock, or common stock? (72)

Explain in your own words questions:

  1. What is DNA? (43)
  2. What is a molecule? (19)
  3. Why is there a hole in the ozone layer? (31)
  4. Where is the hole in the ozone layer? (27)
  5. Are there any harms or dangers which might result from a hole in the ozone layer? (49)
  6. What do you believe is the primary cause of acid rain? (11)
  7. What does the term "free trade" mean to you? (29, 24)
  8. Now please think of this situation: Two scientists want to know if a certain drug is effective against high blood pressure. The first scientist wants to give the drug to 1,000 people with high blood pressure and see how many experience lower blood pressure levels. The second scientist wants to give the drug to 500 people with high blood pressure, and not give the drug to another 500 people with high blood pressure, and see how many in both groups experience lower blood pressure levels. Which is the better way to test this drug? Why is it better to test the drug this way? (some understanding 63)
  9. What does the term "theory" mean to you?

Brad Bonham commented as follows on the NYT report:

The "good" news is that the National Science Foundation runs a huge survey every two years, including these same questions (or nearly the same), and the numbers haven't varied much over the years. Americans still look stupid compared to citizens of other countries who are asked to answer these questions, but we ain't getting' any stupider at any kind of an alarming rate. (Also, there is evidence that students [vs citizens] in some individual states rank near the top in similar international comparisons -- rural/urban demographics & socio-economic factors have been proposed to explain this.)

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