TOWARDS SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
12.3 PERCEPTION OF KNOWLEDGE IN SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
Figure 12.3: The Public’s Perception of Knowledge in S&T Issues – Data Series
Note: (2002) Knowledge Level: 4=Excellent, 3=Average, 2=Poor, 1=None (2004&2008) Knowledge Level: 4=Good, 3=Average, 2=Weak, 1=None
Overall Mean Knowledge are calculated without including innovations in telecommunications technology and NSF research in S&T Source: The Public’s Awareness of Science & Technology Malaysia 2008
Throughout the reporting years, public awareness on S&T studies in Malaysia revealed that Malaysians perceived themselves as having between poor and average knowledge of S&T-related issues. Majority of them thought that they only had a little understanding about science and technology. Figure 12.3 shows that the mean scores of perceived knowledge level of Malaysians are decreasing over time. The deterioration in the perceived knowledge level can be observed in all issues in S&T. In 2004 study, the mean perceived knowledge level (based on Likert-type scale of 1 to 4) dropped to 2.21 from 2.33 in 2002. The overall mean
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perceived knowledge level of Malaysians dropped again by 0.14 to 2.07 in 2008 survey. The result indicates that not only Malaysian perceived that they have a weak knowledge in basic scientific fact and concept, but their perceptions have not been improving over the years. This lack of improvement may remain the same in the next two to four years if no significant measures are taken by the Malaysian Government to promote better knowledge level in S&T among the society.
Figure 12.4: The Public’s Perception of Knowledge in S&T Issues 2008
Note: Knowledge Level= Average + Good
Source: The Public’s Awareness of Science & Technology Malaysia 2008
Figure 12.4 further distributes the perceived knowledge level of the Malaysian public according to percentage of average and good responses in the survey. With the low level of overall knowledge understanding in the past three surveys, this figure shows the breakdowns from those who actually have average to good understanding of S&T. The 2008’s study reveals that fewer than 50% of the respondents describe themselves as having good knowledge in various S&T-related issues. The percentage is considered very low compared to the findings from the past two surveys. While the maximum percentage (41%) was reported in the area of environment pollution, the least were reported in the area of NSF and nuclear technology. The pattern of perceived knowledge level is found quite similar for all the three surveys, with environment pollution leading the figure, followed by ICT, and the rest.
Malaysian Science & Technology Indicators 2008 Report Malaysian Science & Technology Indicators 2008 Report 12.4 ATTITUDE TOWARDS SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
Figure 12.5: Opinion of Public on Effect of S&T – Data Series
Source: The Public’s Awareness of Science & Technology Malaysia 2008
In this part of the survey, respondents were asked their attitudes and perceptions of whether S&T can bring more good than harm, more harm than good, or no effect at all to common life practices. Figure 12.5 shows that public attitudes about science and technology have generally improved over the years. Despite the downward trend on the public perception of knowledge in selected S&T issues, the public’s confidence in science and technology community has remained high for several years. In the year 2000, the number of people who felt that S&T brought equal or no effect (47.5%) to common life were much higher than the number of people who thought that S&T would do more good than harm (43.8%). However, throughout the years of development, the perception of people towards S&T began to change to become more positive.
As a result, the number of people who felt that S&T will do more good than harm increased to 73.8% in 2008 from 69.1% in 2004 and 62% in 2002. On the other hand, the number of people who felt that life would not be affected with the expansion of S&T, decreased to 18.2% in 2008 from 24.5% in 2004 and 31.5% in 2002. From the findings, we can conclude that Malaysians’ attitudes are beginning to become more positive towards the benefit of S&T, even though their knowledge and awareness on specific areas within S&T innovations are quite low.
Figure 12.6: Public Attitudes towards S&T on General Issues – Data Series
Note: This graph shows the percentages of the Malaysian Public who stated that S&T has a positive effect on the above issues.
Source: The Public’s Awareness of Science & Technology Malaysia 2008
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PUBLIC AWARENESS, KNOWLEDGE AND ATTITUDE
TOWARDS SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY PUBLIC AWARENESS, KNOWLEDGE AND ATTITUDE
TOWARDS SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
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A series of questions was formulated on the general S&T-related issues and respondents were asked to state the effect of S&T according to their own perspectives. Based on Figure 12.6, it was found that the percentage of people who felt that S&T has positive effect on standard of living, work condition and enjoyment of life is declining over time. In 2008, only 77.6% of respondents felt that S&T would positively affect the standard of living compared to 78.6% in 2004 and 82.1% in 2002. The same findings can be seen in people’s perspective about the effect of S&T on work condition where in 2008, positive effect is only avowed by 67.3% of respondents compared to 78.8% in 2004 and 82.1% in 2002. On the other hand, more and more people are beginning to believe that S&T will leave a positive effect on the cost of living and the environment.
Overall, majority of people still believe that S&T would bring more positive effect than negative. However, the deterioration in the positive perception on certain issues such as standard of living, work condition, and enjoyment of life may send a different signal indicating the effect of S&T in the opposite direction. The higher percentage on the perceived effect of S&T on the cost of living over the years may indicate that S&T has been perceived as giving impact on the high cost of living that can cause burden to their lives.
Figure 12.7: Public Attitudes towards S&T on Selected Issues – Data Series
Note: The graph shows the percentages of the Malaysian public who agreed to the above statements.
Source: The Public’s Awareness of Science & Technology Malaysia 2008
Malaysian Science & Technology Indicators 2008 Report Malaysian Science & Technology Indicators 2008 Report
No. Selected Issues
A Science & Technology improves the quality of our lives B The quality of science education in school is not satisfactory C The use of automation will increase job opportunities in factories D We depend too much on science & not enough in faith
E Scientific research increase knowledge although it does not produce immediate benefits F Although research on animals may cause suffering, it has to be done for the sake of
humankind
G The government should provide more funds for scientific research
H We need to have knowledge about science in order to manage our daily lives better I Science causes our lifestyle to change too rapidly
J Most scientists strive to make human lives more comfortable
K Our daily work will be more interesting with the use of Science & Technology L New discoveries will help to solve the negative effects of Science & Technology M Science & Technology is very important for the progress of our nation
N Civilization has existed without the help of Science & Technology O Mean Percentage Score
Based on Figure 12.7, people were asked about their agreement/disagreement towards selected issues. It was found that, majority of Malaysians had consistently been positive towards the notion, “S&T improves the quality of our lives”. For instance in 2008, majority of Malaysians (84.3%) stated their agreement with the statement. It was a 10.1 percentage point increase compared to the previous year. When asked about the sensitive statement such as “We depend too much on science & not enough in faith”, only 39.2% of respondents in 2008 surveys addressed their agreement with the statement. However, it was a 12.3 percentage point increase compared to 2004 (26.9%). Respondents were also questioned about their opinion towards the notion “Although research on animals may cause suffering, it had to be done for the sake of humankind”. In 2002 and 2004, only 35.8% and 37.8% of respondents agreed with the statement respectively. However, in 2008, 1/2 of the total respondents (50.4%) were likely to be agreeing with the statement. In the statement “Most scientists strive to make human lives more comfortable”, the Malaysian public had been relatively consistent in their responses over the three surveys. The percentages of Malaysian who agreed about the statement fluctuated around 65% to 69% for the past 8 years. It indicates that Malaysian are fully aware of the contribution made by scientists. In overall, public’s attitude towards S&T is relatively positive. When comparing the mean percentage for the 3 surveys (2002, 2004 and 2008), it shows an upward trend, indicating that Malaysians’ attitude towards S&T is on the rise with the highest mean percentage can be observed in 2008 at 61%.
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Figure 12.8: Awareness of Genetic Engineering or Cloning
Source: The Public’s Awareness of Science & Technology Malaysia 2008
Genetic engineering or cloning is one of the most controversial issues in S&T. Although cloning technique has been applied in agricultural sector for several thousands of years back, recent technological advancements in cloning technique have been highly controversial. The success in cloning of animals (Dolly, Daisy, Snuppy, etc.,) and potentially human, has raised a lot of ethical issues from many parties. Since 1996, Malaysian awareness and opinion about the particular topics has been assessed in order to determine where Malaysia stands among other countries in the world in terms of these issues.
Figure 12.8 shows that, from 1996 to 2002, the percentage of Malaysians who have heard of genetic engineering or cloning increased consistently. In the 2002 survey, more than half of the respondents reported that they had at least heard about it. However, in 2004 survey, the percentage had dropped by 0.4 percentage point. It is unfortunate to see that in the 2008 survey, only 28.5% of the respondents had heard about genetic engineering or cloning. It is 27.6 percentage points lower than the 2004 survey. It indicates that the awareness of the 2008 survey respondents towards this scientific endeavor is shockingly low compared to the four previous studies.
Figure 12.9: Public Opinion on the implementation of Genetic Engineering or Cloning
Source: The Public’s Awareness of Science & Technology Malaysia 2008
Malaysian Science & Technology Indicators 2008 Report Malaysian Science & Technology Indicators 2008 Report In the 2002 study, the percentage of respondents who agreed with the implementation of genetic engineering
was quite small (16%), and becoming slightly smaller (15.8%) in 2004. On the other hand, the percentage of disagreement increased sharply by 11.1 percentage points in 2004. However, the respondents’ opinion towards these issues shows slightly different pattern in the 2008 study. Of the 5,253 respondents who recorded to have at least heard of genetic engineering or cloning, 1,813 or 34.5% of them showed positive attitudes toward its implementation. It was a remarkably 18.7% increase compared to the previous study.
The remaining 18.6% of the respondent expressed their disagreement, and a much bigger crowd (46.9%) was uncertain about their opinion towards the implementation of genetic engineering or cloning. It proves that the public acceptance of certain scientific outputs is increasing.