Trust in scientists has weakened amid the coronavirus pandemics, however it is still high.
MOSCOW, JULY 08, 2020. Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VCIOM) presents the findings of a survey devoted to the Russian trust in scientists.
More than half of Russians (75%) trust scientists; of them, the share of those who completely trust is 12%; 16% completely distrust them.
Two-thirds of those who trust scientists are persons holding higher or incomplete higher education diplomas.
Absolute trust levels have decreased more than twofold over the last ten years and more than threefold over the last three years: 28% of respondents said they completely trusted scientists in 2010, (vs 39% in 2017). The “likely to trust” indicator shows the same tendency: it has increased more than 2.5-fold over the last ten years (5% in 2010). The number of those undecided has reduced twofold over ten years: from 21% to 9% in 2020.
Every second respondent (49%) considers that scientists know the truth (42% in 2018). The share of those who say that scientists delude themselves and do not know the truth has declined from 41% to 29% over the recent two years. Half of respondents say that most of the scientists hide the truth (51%); the share of those who think so has decreased by7 8 p.p. since 2018. Respondents with incomplete secondary education diplomas are still the most skeptical (70%), however their number has decreased by 7 p.p. over the last two years.
Russian VCIOM-Sputnik survey was conducted on July 6, 2020. Results are based on telephone interviews with 1,600 Russians aged 18 and older. A stratified dual-frame random sample based on a complete list of Russian landline and mobile phone number was used. The data were weighted according to selection probability and social and demographic characteristics. The margin of error at a 95% confidence level does not exceed 2.5%. In addition to sampling error, minor changes to the wording of questions and different circumstances arising during the fieldwork can introduce bias into the survey.
How much do you trust the academic community/scientists?* (closed-ended question, one answer, % of total respondents) | |||||||
| 2010 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2017 | 2020 |
Completely distrust | 3 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
Likely to distrust | 5 | 8 | 7 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 14 |
Likely to trust | 43 | 39 | 39 | 39 | 35 | 40 | 63 |
Completely trust | 28 | 28 | 29 | 29 | 31 | 39 | 12 |
Don’t know | 21 | 20 | 22 | 23 | 26 | 16 | 9 |
* The 2010-2015 results are based on household surveys.
How much do you trust the academic community/ scientists? (closed-ended question, one answer, % of total respondents) | |||||
| Total respondents | Incomplete secondary education | Secondary education (school or vocational school) | Specialized secondary education (technical school) | Incomplete higher (not less than 3 years in a higher education institution), higher education |
Completely distrust | 2 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 1 |
Likely to distrust | 14 | 19 | 16 | 15 | 12 |
Likely to trust | 63 | 52 | 56 | 59 | 70 |
Completely trust | 12 | 14 | 13 | 14 | 9 |
Don’t know | 9 | 8 | 12 | 9 | 8 |
In your opinion, do most of the scientists know the truth or sincerely delude themselves and do not know the truth? (closed-ended question, one answer, % of total respondents) | ||
| 2018 | 2020 |
They know the truth | 42 | 49 |
They sincerely delude themselves and do not know the truth | 41 | 29 |
Don’t know | 17 | 22 |
In your opinion, do most of the scientists tell the truth or hide the truth from us? (closed-ended question, one answer, % of total respondents) | ||
| 2018 | 2020 |
They tell the truth | 28 | 30 |
They hide the truth | 59 | 51 |
Don’t know | 13 | 18 |
In your opinion, do most of the scientists tell the truth or hide the truth from us? (closed-ended question, one answer, % of total respondents) | ||||||||
| Incomplete secondary education | Secondary education (school or vocational school) | Specialized secondary education (technical school) | Incomplete higher (not less than 3 years in a higher education institution), higher education | ||||
2018 | 2020 | 2018 | 2020 | 2018 | 2020 | 2018 | 2020 | |
They tell the truth | 17 | 13 | 18 | 24 | 21 | 27 | 40 | 37 |
They hide the truth | 77 | 70 | 71 | 61 | 67 | 58 | 45 | 40 |
Don’t know | 6 | 17 | 11 | 14 | 12 | 15 | 15 | 23 |
Note: Using materials from the site www.wciom.ru or wciom.com, as well as distributed by VCIOM, the reference to the source (or hyperlink for the electronic media) is obligatory.