I had the privilege of administering a survey at the March for Science last weekend in Washington, DC. (That’s right, I got to “do science” at the March for Science! Others did as well – see a recent article in Wired.) This was part of a bigger project on science and democracy, of which I am a co-PI, led by Dr. Rhonda Struminger and Dr. Jeff Winking at Texas A&M University. They were also at the March in DC conducting interviews. Along with CITI-certified assistants, we each interviewed 25 individuals, selected in a systematic way (we counted every 40th person in our assigned area of the march grounds), on their views about the march, the interaction of science and public policy, and the value of science. Project teams also ran surveys in Austin, Texas and Los Angeles, California. We are treating these surveys as a focus group of individuals concerned with science, and we are now coding the data and taking the next steps to further develop the project to assess attitudes about science across the broader population. So stay tuned for more on what we find!
A photo I took at the March reads “Science Makes American Great!” While there were clear partisan tones at the March (predominantly pitted against President Trump), the March aimed to focus on the politics of the issue without being divisive. Here’s a good read on the partisan politics related to science: NPR article.
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