Americans, Politics and Science Issues
The general public’s political views are strongly linked to their attitudes on climate and energy issues. But politics is a less important factor on biomedical, food safety, space issues.
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The general public’s political views are strongly linked to their attitudes on climate and energy issues. But politics is a less important factor on biomedical, food safety, space issues.
Different demographic groups think differently about scientific issues. For example, those more likely to think genetically modified food is unsafe include women, African-Americans and Hispanics, and those without college degrees. Those more likely to say parents should be able to decide whether to vaccinate their children include younger adults, Republicans and independents.
An 83% majority of Americans — including majorities across virtually every demographic and partisan group — say vaccines for diseases such as measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) are safe for healthy children.
Survey Report An 83% majority of the public says vaccines for diseases such as measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) are safe for healthy children, while about one-in-ten (9%) think such vaccines are not safe. An additional 7% volunteer that they don’t know. Majorities across virtually every demographic and partisan group view the vaccines as safe. […]
Most people (58%) express little or no concern about becoming exposed to Ebola, though that is down from 67% in early October.