Replication Data for: Building public support for science spending: Misinformation, motivated reasoning, and the power of corrections

While most Americans support scientific research, few favor an increase in federal investment. This opposition is driven in large part by misinformation about the actual level of governmental support for science. Employing an experiment embedded on a nationally-representative survey, we find that most Americans significantly over-estimate the share of the federal budget allocated to scientific research. Correcting this misperception significantly increases support for additional science spending. We find little evidence that subjects engage in motivated reasoning when confronted with this correction. Information on the low level of existing funding increased support for investment in science across partisan and ideological divides.

尽管多数美国人支持科学研究，但鲜有民众支持增加联邦层面的科研投入。这一反对态度在很大程度上源于民众对政府实际科研支持力度的错误认知。本研究采用嵌入全国代表性调查中的实验范式，发现绝大多数美国人严重高估了联邦预算中划拨给科学研究的份额。纠正这一认知偏差后，民众对追加科研投入的支持率显著提升。我们未发现受试者在接收到该修正信息时存在动机性推理（motivated reasoning）的相关证据。有关当前科研投入规模偏低的信息，能够跨越党派与意识形态分歧，提升民众对科学研究投入的支持度。