Internet and Technology

short readsSep 14, 2015

Does water’s boiling point change with altitude? Americans aren’t sure

Only 34% of Americans correctly answered a question about the difference (if any) between boiling water in Los Angeles and Denver. So what’s the right answer, and why?
short readsSep 11, 2015

On Grandparents Day, will you call, text or write?

With Grandparents Day coming up this Sunday, it’s a good time to look at how often and by what means Americans keep in touch with the eldest members of their families.
reportSep 10, 2015

Science Knowledge Quiz

Who developed the polio vaccine? Does water boil at different temperatures based on altitude? Which is the hottest of Earth’s three layers? Take our science quiz and see how you compare with Americans overall.
reportSep 10, 2015

Appendix A: About the American Trends Panel Survey

The American Trends Panel (ATP), created by Pew Research Center, is a nationally representative panel of randomly selected U.S. adults living in households. Respondents who self-identify as internet users (representing 89% of U.S. adults) participate in the panel via monthly self-administered Web surveys, and those who do not use the internet participate via telephone or […]
reportSep 10, 2015

About This Report

This report examines the general public’s knowledge about 12 science-related topics. The data were collected on the Pew Research Center’s American Trends Panel. This report also includes a series of tables with findings from the new Pew Research survey and from previous Pew Research studies on science knowledge to allow for comparisons across a wider […]
reportSep 10, 2015

Comparison of Science Knowledge Questions Across Pew Research Center Surveys

The set of 12 questions from the new Pew Research Center survey is, of course, only a small fraction of the possible topics and approaches to measuring public knowledge and understanding about science. In this section, we show the 12 questions from the new survey alongside other science knowledge questions asked across a handful of […]
reportSep 10, 2015

Other Demographic Patterns in Science Knowledge

People’s science knowledge sometimes varies by age, race and ethnicity, though the patterns are far from uniform across this set of 12 questions in the new Pew Research survey. On some questions, younger adults tend to know more than their elders (such as which kind of waves underlie cellphone calls). But that pattern is reversed […]
reportSep 10, 2015

Gender Gaps Evident on Topics in the Physical Sciences

Men tend to answer more of these science knowledge questions correctly than do women, the new Pew Research Center survey found. Men score an average of 8.6 out of 12 correct answers, compared with women’s 7.3 correct answers. Some 24% of women answer 10 or more questions correctly, compared with 43% of men who did […]
reportSep 10, 2015

Science Knowledge Is Higher Among Highly Educated Adults

In the new Pew Research Center survey, more-educated Americans generally score better overall in answering science-related questions than those who have a high school degree or less. And those with a college degree or higher tend to perform better on the toughest questions. Adults with a college or postgraduate degree are more than twice as […]
reportSep 10, 2015

What Americans Know About Science, Question by Question

Among the science questions in the new Pew Research Center survey that were easiest for most to answer correctly: 86% identify the Earth’s inner layer, called the core, as its hottest part.[9. numoffset=”9″ This question was adapted with permission from the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) grade 8 science assessment items in […]