The 2004 survey is the sixth in a series of studies on public awareness of S&T, and aimed to assess the public's awareness and understanding of, interest in and attitudes towards S&T, and the associated factors. A nationwide survey was conducted among a random sample of 6,896 respondents to assess the Malaysian public's awareness of S&T. This trend is encouraging because positive attitudes toward S&T indicate that the public will be receptive to projects aimed at promoting S&T, and to efforts aimed at increasing their understanding of S&T.
This research reveals that Malaysians have a relatively good understanding of some basic science questions such as: “Earth travels around the sun, oxygen is produced by plants. Light travels faster than sound' (62.2%) and 'Smoking causes lung cancer' (84.5). %). The findings show that we need to take advantage of the use of different media to increase public awareness of S&T.
INTRODUCTION
This study is the sixth in a series of studies on public awareness of S&T, and aimed to assess public awareness and understanding of, interest in and attitudes towards S&T, and its associated factors. Because we are trying to make generalizations from sample to population, the adequacy of the sample as a basis for making generalizations is of paramount importance. Therefore, due attention was paid to the construction of the instrument, data collection methods and data analysis methods.
The sample size that the researchers sought to achieve was the result of the recommendations of the Department of Statistics that a sample size of 7,000 would be considered sufficiently large, but more importantly, for us to properly construct confidence intervals with an accuracy of ± 2 and confidence of 99% (which is the probability that the calculated intervals will contain the population value). To ensure the validity and credibility of the questionnaire, a pilot study was conducted on 150 respondents to determine if they had difficulty understanding the items.
THE FINDINGS
One of the objectives of the 2004 survey, as in the previous Public Awareness Studies, was to assess the public's perception of their interest in and knowledge of S&T. Attitudes towards science and technology Malaysians were also assessed in terms of their attitudes towards science and technology, measured and defined by their responses to questions and the questionnaire of The Public's Awareness of Science and Technology Malaysia 2004. This term is defined and measured by respondents' answers to ten issues in Question 11 of The Public's Awareness of Science and Technology Malaysia 2004 questionnaire, in which respondents answered “yes” or “no” to the question of whether they read or heard something about it. them.
In this study, the public's perceived understanding or their perceptions of their understanding of science and technology is defined and measured by the respondents' answers to Question 12 of The Public's Awareness of Science and Technology Malaysia 2004 questionnaire. 1295 young people were asked to indicate whether they were aware of the existence of the 18 S&T programs presented in the questionnaire.
INTERNATIONAL COMPARISON
The Malaysian public's perception of their knowledge and interest in S&T is compared with that of Americans and Europeans. However, it should be stated at the outset that the items used to assess the public's perceived knowledge and perceived interest in these countries are not the same, nor are the response categories used. Therefore, the results are not directly comparable and cannot be considered definitive statements about the level of perceived public interest in and familiarity with S&T.
However, they are still useful as relative indicators of how Malaysians fare in terms of their perceived interest and awareness of S&T compared to these two countries. A total of 11 items were used to measure the public's perceived interest and knowledge of S&T in the Malaysian survey, while only 10 items were used in the US survey. In the Malaysian survey, respondents were asked to respond to statements assessing their perceived interest by indicating whether they were “not interested,” “not sure, interested,” or “very interested,” while in the American survey they were respondents were asked to answer by indicating whether they were "not interested", "moderately interested" or
To assess their perceived knowledge, or awareness, as the term is used in the United States, the Malaysian respondents were asked to say whether they had "no knowledge", "a poor knowledge", "an average knowledge" or "a good knowledge" of S&T, while respondents in America were asked to say whether they were "well informed", "moderately informed" or "poorly informed". Europe, on the other hand, had their public's perceived interest in Assess S&T by asking only one question: "Are you rather interested or not very interested in each of the following subjects?" to which they would answer, "rather interested", "not very interested", or "don't know", while the respondents were asked to assess their perceived knowledge, or awareness, of S&T: "Do you feel well or poorly informed about the following topics?" to which they had to answer “well informed.” The findings show that Malaysians are generally interested in S&T, as measured by an overall average percentage (51.9%) of those who said they were interested and very interested in the issue.
Their level of perceived interest is comparable to Europe, where 45.3% of respondents said they "prefer". This seemingly high percentage of expressed interest among Americans is due to the difference in the response categories used, where 89.0% represents the total percentage of Americans who answered that they were "moderately interested" and "very interested" in S&T. This makes the interval much larger than that obtained by combining "interested" and "highly interested" as used in the Malaysian survey, as it would include not only those who are "moderately interested" but also those who are “interested” and “very.
COMPARISON
It should also be emphasized that the perceived interest of the Malaysian, American and European public in specific S&T issues is always greater than their perceived knowledge of S&T (Tables 3 and 4). The attitude of the Malaysian public towards S&T is also compared with that of the American and European public. The Scientific Outlook Index and Scientific Reservations Index were first developed by the US NSF to track trends in public attitudes toward S&T.
The first dimension, as stated in Public Awareness of S&T, Malaysia 2000, represents belief in the promise that science and technology will provide a positive assessment of the likelihood of future benefits. In this study and in the Public Awareness of S&T, Malaysia 1998 and 2000 studies, both indices were calculated by taking the mean. A comparison of the attitudes of Malaysians, Americans, and Europeans towards S&T shows that Malaysians generally have a positive attitude towards S&T and strongly believe in the promise and benefits of science and technology, as indicated by a science optimism index of 71.9%.
For example, in 2001, 86.0% of the American public felt that science and technology make us healthier and our lives more comfortable, while only 75.0% and 70.7% of Malaysians and Europeans, respectively, felt this way on the question. Regarding the view that new discoveries will help to solve the negative effects of science and technology development, almost half of the European and Malaysian public agree with the statement. Malaysians' understanding of S&T issues was compared with the European, Japanese and American public.
Regarding the response of the Malaysian adult public to this issue, 46.1% of them answered the question correctly. Source: Science and Engineering Indicators 2004), but among many scientists as well - reflects the inclination of the NSF towards Darwin's theory of evolution. It is also interesting to note that the scientific community in Malaysia is of the opposite view.
RECOMMENDATIONS
Many teachers are aware of the importance of motivating their students to learn science, but promoting awareness and interest in science through education. Another factor that contributes to a student's appreciation and interest in science is the wise selection and use of appropriate textbooks. Indeed, the study's findings suggest that there are several areas that require attention.
For both goals, it is important to ensure that we do not jeopardize students' interest in science at the expense of providing science content. This suggests that these issues should be covered and emphasized in the curriculum, as they are important issues and should be considered as one of the basic elements of scientific literacy. The results of the study show that only about one-third of Malaysians are aware of science and technology programs.
In order to do this, it is necessary to identify the barriers that hinder the development of public interest and awareness of S&T. Focusing on issues that touch the pockets or lives of the public will immediately attract attention, creating a higher level of awareness and consequently engagement. Therefore, it is very important to develop S&T awareness programs that target different sections of the Malaysian public.
Given the importance of media such as TV, radio and newspapers as sources of information, these issues should be given not only broad coverage, but proper coverage. The fact that women constitute a significant part of the population necessitates Special Initiatives for Women. As mentioned earlier, the highest percentage of the Malaysian public watches TV3, followed by TV2 and NTV7.
CONCLUSIONS
Overall Findings
The findings suggest that we may not have done enough to increase public interest in S&T, and that we need to step up our efforts to do so. Among other things, we will have to look at the effectiveness of our S&T programmes, our school curriculum and our ways of disseminating S&T information. It is important that we raise the public's level of understanding of these concepts as they are important in our will to become a developed and industrialized nation.
APPENDICES
Perception of Interest in S&T - Data Series
Perception of Interest in S&T 2004
Perception of Knowledge in S&T - Data Series
Public Attitude on the Effects of S&T on Selected Issues 2004
Public Attitudes on the Implementation of Genetic Engineering 2004
Reasons for Agreement with Genetic
Engineering 2004 Reasons for Disagreement with Genetic Engineering 2004
Public Attitude Towards S&T Issues 2004
Public Opinions on Reasons for the Decrease in Interest in S&T 2004
Public Understanding of S&T Issues - Data Series
Public Understanding of S&T Issues by Locality, Gender and Age Group 2004
Locality
Age Group
Gender
Public Subjective Understanding of S&T Concepts 2004
Level of Trust in S&T Information Sources - Data Series
Awareness of S&T Programmes by the Public and Age Group 2004
Participation in S&T Programmes by the Public and Age Group 2004
Public Understanding of S&T Issues - International Comparison
Public Understanding of S&T on the issue 'Man as we know him today originates from the earlier animal species' 2004 by gender, locality, ethnic group and
Sources of Information - International Comparison
