Science Barometer Switzerland 2016

The Science Barometer Switzerland analyzes through which media, in which form and how often the Swiss come in contact with scientific issues, and whether and how this affects their scientific knowledge as well as their opinions regarding science. The project surveys a representative sample of the Swiss population every three years (2016, 2019, 2022), interviewing 1000 Swiss citizens aged 15 years and older in the German, the French, and the Italian speaking regions of the country. On the one hand, the survey gathers information about the usage of different information sources, asking how often respondents encounter scientific issues in newspapers, radio and television, and how often they look for scientific issues on the internet and in social media. Furthermore, it asks how often the Swiss go to science museums, as well as how often they speak about scientific topics with family and friends. In addition, it assesses how credible, comprehensible and useful respondents judge these different sources of information. On the other hand, the Science Barometer Switzerland measures the Swiss’ scientific knowledge and their attitudes towards science. Based on these dimensions, it connects patterns of information behaviour and public opinions about science in explanatory models.