Pablo Cabrera-Álvarez’s research while affiliated with Fundación Española para la Ciencia y la Tecnología and other places

Science is crucial for evidence-based decision-making. Public trust in scientists can help decision makers act on the basis of the best available evidence, especially during crises. However, in recent years the epistemic authority of science has been challenged, causing concerns about low public trust in scientists. We interrogated these concerns with a preregistered 68-country survey of 71,922 respondents and found that in most countries, most people trust scientists and agree that scientists should engage more in society and policymaking. We found variations between and within countries, which we explain with individual- and country-level variables, including political orientation. While there is no widespread lack of trust in scientists, we cannot discount the concern that lack of trust in scientists by even a small minority may affect considerations of scientific evidence in policymaking. These findings have implications for scientists and policymakers seeking to maintain and increase trust in scientists.

Science is integral to society because it can inform individual, government, corporate, and civil society decision-making on issues such as public health, new technologies or climate change. Yet, public distrust and populist sentiment challenge the relationship between science and society. To help researchers analyse the science-society nexus across different geographical and cultural contexts, we undertook a cross-sectional population survey resulting in a dataset of 71,922 participants in 68 countries. The data were collected between November 2022 and August 2023 as part of the global Many Labs study “Trust in Science and Science-Related Populism” (TISP). The questionnaire contained comprehensive measures for individuals’ trust in scientists, science-related populist attitudes, perceptions of the role of science in society, science media use and communication behaviour, attitudes to climate change and support for environmental policies, personality traits, political and religious views and demographic characteristics. Here, we describe the dataset, survey materials and psychometric properties of key variables. We encourage researchers to use this unique dataset for global comparative analyses on public perceptions of science and its role in society and policy-making.

This article reports research exploring the benefits of adding text messages to the contact strategy in the context of a sequential mixed-mode design where telephone interviewer administration follows a web phase. In a web-first mixed-mode survey, supplementing the contact strategy with text messages can help increase the response rate at the web phase and, consequently, reduce fieldwork efforts at the interviewer-administered phase. We present results from a survey experiment embedded in wave 11 of Understanding Society in which the usual contact strategy of emails and letters was supplemented with text messages. Effects of the text messages on survey response and fieldwork efforts were assessed. In addition, we also investigated the impact of SMS on the device selected to complete the survey, time to response, and sample balance. The results show a weak effect of the SMS reminders on response during the web fieldwork. However, this positive effect did not significantly reduce fieldwork effort.

This article is concerned with the transition of a longitudinal survey from a single-mode design to a web-first mixed-mode design and the role that text messages to sample members can play in smoothing that transition. We present the results of an experiment that investigates the effects of augmenting the contact strategy of letters and emails with text messages, inviting the sample members to complete a web questionnaire and reminding them of the invite. The experiment was conducted in a subsample of Understanding Society, a household panel survey in the United Kingdom, in the wave that transitioned from a CAPI-only design to a sequential design combining web and CATI. In the experiment, a quarter of the sample received letters and emails, while the rest received between one and three text messages with a personalized link to the questionnaire. We examine the effect of the text messages on response rates, both at the web phase of a sequential design and at the end of the fieldwork after a CATI follow-up phase, and explore various mechanisms that might drive the increase in response rates. We also look at the effects on the device used to complete the survey and field efforts needed at the CATI stage. The findings indicate that text messages did not help to significantly increase response rates overall, although some subgroups benefited from them, such as panel members who had not provided an email or postal address before. Likewise, the text messages increased web completion among younger panel members and those with an irregular response pattern. We only found a slight and nonsignificant effect on smartphone use and no effect on the web household response rate, a proxy for fieldwork efforts.

Scientific information is crucial for evidence-based decision-making. Public trust in science can help decision-makers act based on the best available evidence, especially during crises such as climate change or the COVID-19 pandemic. However, in recent years the epistemic authority of science has been challenged, causing concerns about low public trust in scientists. Here we interrogated these concerns with a pre-registered 67-country survey of 71,417 respondents on all inhabited continents and find that in most countries, a majority of the public trust scientists and think that scientists should be more engaged in policymaking. We further show that there is a discrepancy between the public's perceived and desired priorities of scientific research. Moreover, we find variations between and within countries, which we explain with individual-and country-level variables, including political orientation. While these results do not show widespread lack of trust in scientists, we cannot discount the concern that lack of trust in scientists by even a small minority may affect considerations of scientific evidence in policymaking. These findings have implications for scientists and policymakers seeking to maintain and increase trust in scientists.

Scientific information is crucial for evidence-based decision-making. Public trust in science can help decision-makers act based on the best available evidence, especially during crises such as climate change or the COVID-19 pandemic 1,2. However, in recent years the epistemic authority of science has been challenged, causing concerns about low public trust in scientists 3. Here we interrogated these concerns with a pre-registered 67-country survey of 71,417 respondents on all inhabited continents and find that in most countries, a majority of the public trust scientists and think that scientists should be more engaged in policymaking. We further show that there is a discrepancy between the public's perceived and desired priorities of scientific research. Moreover, we find variations between and within countries, which we explain with individual-and country-level variables, including political orientation. While these results do not show widespread lack of trust in scientists, we cannot discount the concern that lack of trust in scientists by even a small minority may affect considerations of scientific evidence in policymaking. These findings have implications for scientists and policymakers seeking to maintain and increase trust in scientists.

In this paper, we provide an overview of the sample design of Understanding Society and the consequent nature of design weights as well as a description of procedures that are implemented in order to maximise participation by sample members and procedures that are implemented to produce non‐response adjustments to the design weights. We then present some indicators of sample representativeness at the initial wave and of the impact that subsequent sample attrition has on this before concluding with some reflections on the nature of representativeness and estimation methods in the context of a highly complex sample design and complex patterns of missing data arising from non‐response.

Failure of individuals to voluntarily observe regulations and recommendations around mitigating COVID-19 (e.g. social distancing; frequent handwashing) is often cited as a reason why some countries struggled to curtail the spread of the virus. Understanding the factors that are associated with people’s willingness to comply with COVID-19 regulations and recommendations is an important step in helping policy makers and health officials reduce the impact of this (and future) pandemics. In the current study we examined this question in one of the countries hardest hit by the pandemic: Spain. A large, representative survey (N = 2100) revealed that several factors were positively associated with willingness to comply to COVID-19 regulations and recommendations. In decreasing order of predictive value, these were: (i) perceptions of whether friends and family were complying (i.e. norms), (ii) trust in science as a basis for lawmaking, (iii) perceived effectiveness of regulations and (iv) perception of risk of infection. These results point to the importance of influencing social norms as the primary way to improve adherence to the health regulations of COVID-19; more important than intrapsychic considerations such as efficacy and risk.

The following dataset focuses on the educational well-being of adopted girls of Chinese origin in Spanish schools. Due to its characteristics, the presence of this group may generate complex interaction dynamics in school; particularly regarding bullying in school linked to factors such as the acceptance of others. These are dynamics, which may indeed condition the educational experience of this social group. Therefore, the aim of creating this dataset is to measure the educational well-being of children of Chinese origin adopted into transracial families in Spain. Although this research was justified by the lack of studies on this social group, we aimed to go one-step further, we also studied the correlation between this social group’s educational experience, and to what extent they show an interest in Chinese culture. As we have written before, we incorporated the concept of Well-Being and we worked with the following indicators: Satisfaction with Life, Social Life, and Bullying in School, Racial Bullying, Personal Identity and Interest in Chinese Culture. To achieve the objective set forth, we conducted a questionnaire. The final sample consisted of 268 individuals. The creation of this dataset provided us with information that can shed light on the relationship between adoption, race/ethnicity and the educational experience of adopted children of Chinese origin.