A recent survey by the Pew Research Center measured the interest of science and health stories from online adults. While stories of science and technology are often grouped with stories of health and medicine, different groups often discern interest in the two.
About 37 percent of adults find stories of health and medicine among topics of highest interest while 32 percent of adults say the same about stories of science and technology. But only 11 percent claim both. Women and older adults are more inclined to prefer health stories whereas men and younger adults prefer science stories.
The study was conducted in response to overwhelming survey responses of the scientific community’s lack of confidence in the general public’s scientific knowledge.
The Pew Research Center suggests the disparity between current science reporting and the public’s interest to science and health stories may be a contributing factor to the limited and divided public reception.
