"improving the safety of automobiles" fell from 

 the choice of 38 percent of the public in 1972 to 

 29 percent in 1974. 



Areas in which the public in 1974 indicated 

 they would least like their taxes spent for science 

 and technology were "space exploration," and 

 "developing or improving weapons for national 

 defense." 



period. An increasingly large percentage of the 

 public believed that science and technology had 

 changed life for the better; a substantial and 

 growing fraction expressed a feeling of satisfac- 

 tion and hope with respect to science and 

 technology; and scientists and engineers re- 

 ceived high rankings among other occupations 

 and professions, although the rankings of all 

 groups were relatively high. 



In Which of the Areas Listed Would You Most Like (and Least Like) 

 to Have Your Taxes Spent for Science and Technology? 



Response 



Improving health care 



Reducing and controlling pollution 



Reducing crime 



Finding new methods for preventing and treating 



drug addiction 



Improving education 



Improving the safety of automobiles 



Developing faster and safer public transportation for 



travel within and between cities 



Finding better birth control methods 



Discovering new basic knowledge about man 



and nature 



Weather control and prediction 



Space exploration 



Developing or improving weapons for national defense 

 No opinion 



Multiple responses were accepted 



Percent choosing area 



These opinions should be interpreted with 

 caution . The relevance of science and technology 

 for alleviating or solving the problems involved 

 was not considered explicitly. Thus, the 

 responses may reflect areas of general concern 

 to the public without regard for the possible 

 specific role of science and technology in dealing 

 with them. Furthermore, the actual words used 

 in describing the various areas may have a 

 biasing effect; e.g., the word "weapons" in 

 "developing or improving weapons for national 

 defense" may have a negative connotation which 

 accounts in part for the low preference for 

 science and technology in this area. 



Summary of the total group responses 



The results of the survey provide reasonably 

 clear answers to the three general questions 

 addressed to the public. The regard for science 

 and technology appears to be relatively high and 

 to have grown slightly during the 1972-74 



The results regarding the impact of science 

 and technology are somewhat less positive, and 

 differ little in the two surveys. A small majority 

 expressed the belief that science and technology 

 overall did more good than harm — although 

 they were held responsible for at least some of 

 our problems — while almost one-third thought 

 the impact was about equally divided between 

 beneficial and harmful effects. The extent of 

 social control over science and technology, 

 however, should remain as it is according to 

 almost half those surveyed, whereas the need 

 for greater control was expressed in nearly 30 

 percent of the responses. 



The predominant expectation is for con- 

 siderable achievement by science and technology 

 in solving major problems, even though the level 

 of expectation declined somewhat between 

 1972-74. In both years, slightly more than 75 

 percent of those surveyed expected science and 

 technology to solve some or most of our current 

 problems. 



148 



