FOR RELEASE FEBRUARY 17, 2015

How Scientists Engage the Public and Why It Matters

At the AAAS 2015 Annual Meeting, Lee Rainie discussed new findings about how scientists use a variety of methods to bring their work to the general public.

FOR MEDIA OR OTHER INQUIRIES:

Communications Department
202.419.4372
www.pewresearch.org

RECOMMENDED CITATION

Pew Research Center, February 2015, "How Scientists Engage the Public and Why It Matters"

About Pew Research Center

Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan, nonadvocacy fact tank that informs the public about the issues, attitudes and trends shaping the world. It does not take policy positions. The Center conducts public opinion polling, demographic research, computational social science research and other data-driven research. It studies politics and policy; news habits and media; the internet and technology; religion; race and ethnicity; international affairs; social, demographic and economic trends; science; research methodology and data science; and immigration and migration. Pew Research Center is a subsidiary of The Pew Charitable Trusts, its primary funder.

© Pew Research Center 2026

Table of contents

How Scientists Engage the Public and Why It Matters

At the AAAS 2015 Annual Meeting, Lee Rainie discussed new findings about how scientists use a variety of methods to bring their work to the general public.

At the AAAS 2015 Annual Meeting, Lee Rainie discussed new findings from a representative survey of 3,748 scientists connected to the AAAS about their views about the state of science in America and, particularly, how scientists use a variety of methods to bring their work to the general public.