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Description & Citation--Study No. 4029

Bibliographic Description

ICPSR Study No.:4029
 
Persistent URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR04029
 
Title:National Science Foundation Surveys of Public Attitudes Toward and Understanding of Science and Technology, 1979-2001: [United States]
 
Principal Investigator(s):Jon D. Miller, Northwestern University Medical School. Center for Biomedical Communications
 
  Linda Kimmel, Northwestern University Medical School. Center for Biomedical Communications
 
  ORC Macro
 
Funding Agency:National Science Foundation. Science Resources Statistics
 
Grant Number:03-212-SRS-0086139, and ASA/SRS-NSF 0209274
 
Bibliographic Citation:Miller, Jon D., Linda Kimmel, and ORC Macro. NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION SURVEYS OF PUBLIC ATTITUDES TOWARD AND UNDERSTANDING OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, 1979-2001: [UNITED STATES] [Computer file]. ICPSR version. Tallahassee, FL: Susan Carol Losh, Florida State University, Department of Educational Psychology & Learning Systems/Arlington, VA: National Science Foundation, Division of Science Resources Statistics/Arlington, VA: American Statistical Association [producers], 2004. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2005. doi:10.3886/ICPSR04029
 

Scope of Study

Summary:The National Science Foundation (NSF) Surveys of Public Attitudes monitored the general public's attitudes toward and interest in science and technology. In addition, the survey assessed levels of literacy and understanding of scientific and environmental concepts and constructs, how scientific knowledge and information were acquired, attentiveness to public policy issues, and computer access and usage. Since 1979, the survey was administered at regular intervals (occurring every two or three years), producing 11 cross-sectional surveys through 2001. Data for Part 1 (Survey of Public Attitudes Multiple Wave Data) were comprised of the survey questionnaire items asked most often throughout the 22-year survey series and account for approximately 70 percent of the original questions asked. Data for Part 2, General Social Survey Subsample Data, combine the 1983-1999 Survey of Public Attitudes data with a subsample from the 2002 General Social Survey (GSS) (GENERAL SOCIAL SURVEYS, 1972-2002: [CUMULATIVE FILE] [ICPSR 3728]) and focus solely on levels of education and computer access and usage. Variables for Part 1 include the respondents' interest in new scientific or medical discoveries and inventions, space exploration, military and defense policies, whether they voted in a recent election, if they had ever contacted an elected or public official about topics regarding science, energy, defense, civil rights, foreign policy, or general economics, and how they felt about government spending on scientific research. Respondents were asked how they received information concerning science or news (e.g., via newspapers, magazines, or television), what types of television programming they watched, and what kind of magazines they read. Respondents were asked a series of questions to assess their understanding of scientific concepts like DNA, probability, and experimental methods. Respondents were also asked if they agreed with statements concerning science and technology and how they affect everyday living. Respondents were further asked a series of true and false questions regarding science-based statements (e.g., the center of the Earth is hot, all radioactivity is manmade, electrons are smaller than atoms, the Earth moves around the sun, humans and dinosaurs co-existed, and human beings developed from earlier species of animals). Variables for Part 2 include highest level of math attained in high school, whether the respondent had a postsecondary degree, field of highest degree, number of science-based college courses taken, major in college, household ownership of a computer, access to the World Wide Web, number of hours spent on a computer at home or at work, and topics searched for via the Internet. Demographic variables for Parts 1 and 2 include gender, race, age, marital status, number of people in household, level of education, and occupation.
 
Subject Term(s):computer use, information literacy, information sources, Internet, postsecondary education, science, science education, secondary education, technology
 
Geographic Coverage:United States
 
Time Period:1979 - 2001
 
Unit of Observation:individuals
 
Universe:All households with a working telephone in the contiguous United States containing at least one noninstitutionalized English or Spanish speaker aged 18 years or over.
 
Data Type:survey data
 
Data Collection Notes:(1) Part 1 contains a weight variable (WT5) that corrects for nonresponse and oversamples males and Blacks. (2) The codebook and the data collection instruments are provided by ICPSR as Portable Document Format (PDF) files. The PDF file format was developed by Adobe Systems Incorporated and can be accessed using PDF reader software, such as the Adobe Acrobat Reader. Information on how to obtain a copy of the Acrobat Reader is provided on the ICPSR Web site.
 

Methodology

Sample:Data were collected through a disproportionate stratified sampling frame utilizing a list-assisted random-digital dial (RDD) design within strata. Respondents within households were selected using the most recent birthday selection method.
 
Data Source:Respondents were interviewed in person for the 1979 wave and via telephone for subsequent waves. Later waves also utilized Computer-Assisted Telephone Interviewing (CATI).
 
Extent of Processing:CONCHK.PR/ DDEF.ICPSR/ MDATA.PR/ REFORM.DATA/ REFORM.DOC/ UNDOCCHK.PR
 

Access and Availability

Note:A list of the data formats available for this study can be found in the summary of holdings. Detailed file-level information (such as record length, case count, and variable count) is listed in the file manifest.
 
Original ICPSR Release:2005-01-27
 
Version History:The last update of this study occurred on 2006-01-18.
 
  2006-01-18 - File CB4029.ALL.PDF was removed from any previous datasets and flagged as a study-level file, so that it will accompany all downloads.
 
Dataset(s):
  • DS1: Survey of Public Attitudes Multiple Wave Data
  • DS2: General Social Survey Subsample Data
 

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