The measurement of civic scientific literacy

Abstract

Building on two decades of national surveys in the United States and two Eurobarometer studies, the history, rationale, and structure of a measure of civic scientific literacy are described. Estimates of the proportion of adults who are very well informed or moderately well informed on the index of civic scientific literacy appear in the literature more frequently, and this paper provides the first comprehensive description and analysis of the civic scientific literacy measure. It is hoped that this analysis and discussion will encourage the inclusion and replication of the measure in a wider range of studies of the public understanding of and attitudes toward science and technology.