AWARENESS, KNOWLEDGE AND ATTITUDE TOWARDS
Chapter 9 Awareness, Knowledge and Attitude Towards Science and Technology
9.1 Perceived Knowledge of Science & Technology
(S&T) - related and General Issues
Overall, there has been an improvement in the level of perceived knowledge about S&T-related and general issues for year 2002 compared to year 1998 and 2000. Based on a Likert-type scale of 1 to 4 (with 1 indicating no knowledge and 4 excellent knowledge), the mean score for all the issues included in the study shows a moderate improvement with no one statement with a mean score of less than 2 compared to year 1998 and 2000 in which three of the issues had a mean score of less than 2, respectively (Figure 9.1). However, none of the statements had a mean score of at least 3, indicating that there is a tremendous opportunity for improvement. For the 11 issues examined, eight enjoyed an improvement in the score while the remaining three showed a decline in the knowledge score. The level of perceived knowledge reported range from 2.04 to 2.78. Issues on environmental pollution continued to enjoy the highest level of reported perceived knowledge with a mean score of 2.78 even though this score paled in comparison with the score for 1998 and 2000. The other two issues that had a lower level of perceived knowledge compared to 1998 and 2000 were
“new inventions from Malaysia” and “economy and business”. Findings from the 2002 survey on Public Awareness of Science and Technology suggest the influence of environmental factors on perceived knowledge for certain issues. For example, in 1998 when
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Malaysia was battling the Asian crisis, there was a high level of reported perceived knowledge on economy and business. The score was lower in 2000 when Malaysia began to experience an improved economy while in 2002, the level of perceived knowledge in this area dropped further as Malaysia is experiencing growth again.
The issue with the largest improvement in score was “international and
foreign policies” which again, is reflective of the influence of macro-environmental forces. The improvement in the level of perceived knowledge in this issue can be attributed to the widespread media coverage on international issues resulting from dynamism of the events post September 11 incidents.
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9.1.1 Gender Comparison
Overall, males were generally more aware and had a higher level of perceived knowledge in S&T-related and general issues compared to women as indicated by the scores for the issues included in the study (Figure 9.2).
Consistent with the findings for the overall sample, males and females perceived to have better knowledge in all areas except
“environmental pollution”, “new inventions from Malaysia”, and “economy and business”
compared to findings of year 1998 and 2000.
The males did not have any scores that was less than 2.0 whereas females reported a mean
score of 1.99 in their level of perceived knowledge in “application of nuclear technology to produce energy”. The three issues that males and females reported a high level of perceived knowledge were: “environmental pollution”, “application of computer technology”, and “new inventions from Malaysia”. The three areas with the least perceived knowledge were: “application of nuclear energy to produce energy”, “aerospace exploration”, and “international and foreign policies”. Compared to the findings of 1998 and 2000, the increase in the level of perceived knowledge for international and foreign policies was remarkable.
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9.1.2 Age Group Comparison
The level of awareness and perceived knowledge about S&T-related and general issues among the three age groups, namely, children (12-14 years), youths (15-20 years) and adults (21-60 years) were examined.
Findings show that youths were consistently the group with the highest level of perceived knowledge compared to children and adults (Figure 9.3). As perceived knowledge in S&T- related and general issues is expected to be positively correlated with the years of education, it is within expectation that children scored the lowest in all areas compared to youths and adults since substantial knowledge in science and technology-related issues are
only covered in secondary school curricula.
Children reported scores of less than 2.0 for five of the issues examined. These issues were: “economy and business”’ “aerospace exploration”, “application of nuclear technology to produce energy”, and “international and foreign policies”. Youths and adults did not score less than 2.0 for any of the issues examined.
Within group comparisons for year 2002 and prior years show that children fared better in all issues examined except in 3 areas:
“environmental pollution”, “new inventions from Malaysia” and “aerospace exploration”. For youths, there has been an improvement in the level of reported perceived knowledge
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compared to earlier years in all areas except for one issue, that is, “environmental pollution”
(mean = 2.98) compared to year 2000 and 1998 (mean = 3.07 and 3.14, respectively). The level of perceived knowledge reported by the adults was similar to the overall findings in which a lower score could be observed for three of the issues, namely, “environmental pollution”, “new inventions from Malaysia”, and “economy and business”. The drop in the level of knowledge in economy and business and environmental pollution among adults signaled a decline in interests which might produce a negative impact on the younger age groups. Adults play a critical role in imparting knowledge to the younger generations. At the same time the ability of adults in influencing and stimulating interest among the younger generation in science and technology cannot be under-rated.