Harun Hussain
5 - Perception of Science:
P2:
Questionnaire1. What is your age?
Under 18
19-26
27-34
35-42
43+
2. What is your definition of science?
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
3. Are you interested in scientific theories, developments and ideas?
Yes
No
4. What media organisation do you follow to access science news stories? Please give
specific examples e.g. New Scientist magazine
TV
Internet
None
_____________________________________________________________________
5. Generally, do you think the media portrays science in a positive way or a negative
way?
Positive
Negative
Please give examples:
_____________________________________________________________________
Harun Hussain
6. Do you trust science?
Yes
No
7. What recent science articles have you read? And what is your opinion on them?
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
Harun Hussain
Q1)
What is your age range?
9
8
7
6
5
What is your age range?
4
3
2
1
0
Under 18
19-26
27-34
35-42
43+
I asked this question because I wanted to know the age of the person taking the
questionnaire. The purpose of this question was because I wanted to know what different
age groups thought about science, majority of them were 27-34 years of age.
Q3)
Are you interested in scientific theories,
developments and ideas?
20
18
16
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
Yes
No
Harun Hussain
I asked this question because I wanted to see if the person taking the questionnaire is
interested in scientific ideas, theories and the development. Majority of them were
interested, the rest weren’t. This would give me an insight on how they would answer the
rest of the questions in my questionnaire.
Q4)
What media organisation do you follow to
access science news stories?
12
10
8
What media organisation do
you follow to access science
news stories?
6
4
2
0
TV
Internet
None
This question was asked because a lot of people now don’t follow articles and I wanted to
see if they follow either the TV or the internet, majority follow the TV organisation which
wasn’t as surprising as I thought it would be. There were only 5 people that follow the
internet, as you can see the TV media organisation is much more popular and is more used
by the public.
Harun Hussain
Q5)
Generally, do you think the media portrays
science in a positive way or a negative way?
20
18
16
14
12
Generally, do you think the
media portrays science in a
positive way or a negative way?
10
8
6
4
2
0
Positive
Negative
Majority of the people for this question thought the media portrays science in a positive
way, only 7 out of the 25 thought negative. This may be because they don’t know a lot
about science
Q6)
Do you trust science?
20
18
16
14
12
10
Do you trust science?
8
6
4
2
0
Yes
No
A few people don’t trust science, this is because of how the media portrays science, and
majority of people don’t know enough about science to trust them. I asked this question
because it would give me an insight if they trust science or not. The main purpose of it is to
see if there’s a correlation between age and there understanding of science.
Harun Hussain
P3:
EbolaOn March 2014 the African Regional Office reported an occurrence of Ebola
virus disease in Guinea
This disease was discovered in 1976 and rapidly it’s become the deadliest
incidence of the disease since it was discovered. It is a viral illness of which the
symptoms include fever, weakness, muscle pain and a sore throat, this then
leads on to vomiting, diarrhoea and external + internal bleeding
Since March up until November around 5,160 people have died
The virus has been controlled in the past, and can be again
“Ebola is more-or-less the same as it was in 1976,” when it was discovered,
said Ian Jones, professor of virology at the University of Reading in the U.K.
“Most viruses, once they’ve established a way of life, stick with it.”
Sean Hannity said on his radio show, “I’m not covering what the Centres for
Disease Control say — I don’t trust them.” On his show, Rush Limbaugh talked
sarcastically about “how we just have to trust the scientists of the world.”
When a doctor in New York was found to have Ebola, Michelle Malkin said on
Twitter, “Now we get to watch smug NYC journos who were lecturing everyone
else not to freak out about Ebola ... freak out about Ebola.”
The public is freaking out about Ebola and now they are questioning if they
should trust science. However, scientists need more time to treat this disease
and come up with a precaution for the future. The public have a right to say
what they believe about the situation.
The public have a negative response towards Ebola and science itself; the
media is portraying science in a negative way. The radio shows manipulate the
public’s minds towards science, because majority of the people that watch
shows on TV that talk about science believe whatever is said.
Harun Hussain
http://www.who.int/csr/disease/ebola/en/
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-28755033
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-26835233
http://online.wsj.com/articles/scientists-say-ebolas-transmission-route-unlikely-to-havechanged-1413475957
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/01/us/alarmed-by-ebola-public-isnt-calmed-by-expertssay-.html?_r=0
Harun Hussain
M2:
VaccinesVaccination is when a virus, or bacteria, is deliberately directed to you so that
your immune system can prepare to fight a future infection.
In 1796 British physician, Dr Edward Jenner discovered vaccination in its
modern form and he also proved to the scientific community that it worked.
Vaccination grew and grew and became popular in Europe as well as the US.
In the 1870’s people found it hard to believe and questioned if it actually
works.
In the 1880’s Louis Pasteur created the rabies vaccine which improved
vaccination, a lot of people started to understand it and the violence
quietened.
In the 1920’s it became widely available.
In the 1955 Polio vaccination was introduced in the UK and it reduced the
number of cases.
Smallpox was declared as being destroyed in 1980. It was one of the most
amazing achievements in the history of medicine.
A scientist in 2008 called Professor Harald zur Hausen investigated cervical
cancer and he found out that it was caused by a virus, making it possible to
develop a vaccine for the disease. He was awarded the Noble Prize for this.
Later on in 2008 a young girl was vaccinated due to cervical cancer, it was the
first time vaccination has been offered to prevent a cancer.
In 2013 a vaccine was created against shingles and rotavirus.
People are scared of vaccines because of this occurring the amount of children
that are vaccine have decreased. In addition, children are getting infected by
different disease; this is because of the parent’s response towards the Medias
reporting.
Harun Hussain
Between 2008 and 2010 in California, the number of children attending schools
in which 20 or more children were intentionally unvaccinated nearly doubled
from 1937 in 2008 to 3675 in 2010. Vaccination rates have also decreased all
over Europe, resulting in measles and rubella outbreaks in France, Spain, Italy,
Germany, Switzerland, Romania, Belgium, Denmark, and Turkey.
This suggests that the media portrays science in a negative way and due to this
it’s hard for the science industries to come up with an outcome and it’s hard
for the public to have a positive influence towards science thus why diseases
are spreading.
http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/vaccinations/pages/the-history-of-vaccination.aspx
http://blogs.plos.org/speakingofmedicine/2013/06/11/why-are-we-so-afraid-of-vaccines/
Harun Hussain
D2:
I have researched and found out that the media has a negative impact and
portrays science in a negative way.
In my survey I have asked questions to see what the public think about science
and how the perception from the media influences them to have a positive or
negative approach towards science.
I have found out majority of the people that have taken my survey believe that
science is interesting and that majority of them trust science.
I asked a question on what media organisation they follow and majority said
they follow whatever the TV shows. Nowadays people mainly follow the news
on TV which influences them to have a certain view on science. They either
have a positive attitude towards it or a negative one.
In my survey majority of the people that were middle aged took the
questionnaire and they believe that the media portrays science in a positive
way. So I have found out that people ranging from the age of 18-35 believe
that the media portrays science in a positive way, people over the age of 36
believe the media portrays science in a negative way.
In my research on Ebola, the media portrays science in a negative way; this is
because science has not yet come up with an outcome to treat this disease.
A doctor in New York had the disease; the media portrayed this in a brutal
negative way. In addition to this the public’s perception on science became
negative, people are now questioning if they should trust science or not.
Sean Hannity on his radio show said that he doesn’t trust science. This is one
example of how the media portrays science in a negative way .The radio shows
manipulate the public’s minds towards science, because majority of the people
that watch shows on TV that talk about science believe whatever is said, thus
why the public have a negative attitude towards it.
In my research on Vaccination, the media yet again portrays science in a
negative way.
Harun Hussain
1 in 4 U.S. parents still believed that vaccines cause autism due to what the
media said about it.
I found out that people are really scared of vaccines because of how the media
portrays it. Due to this occurrence fewer children are being vaccined which is
causing more infectious diseases to occur and spread.
In conclusion, I have researched blogs and articles to come up with a decision. I
believe that the media portrays science in a negative way and that the public’s
view on science is negative. People believe whatever the media says about
science and have negative assumptions towards it.