Should scientists have a role to play in public policy, and do you trust them to make decisions that are in the public’s interest? These are some of the questions at the heart of a new report by the Pew Research Center, which found that the majority of Americans have confidence in scientists, which has risen since last year – but there are still deep differences across the political divide.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, public trust in scientists as unbiased professionals experienced a decline in many places, especially in the US. Mis- and disinformation contributed to a growing sense of scientists not being the agents of objectivity and unbiased thinking they are supposed to be.

In fact, the Pew Research Center report for November 2023 showed that trust in scientists had fallen to the lowest point since before the pandemic, a drop that was experienced by both Republicans and Democrats, though to a greater extent among the former. At the same time, although trust in science as an institution remained high, even this had dropped to a lower level than it had been before the pandemic.

This was a difficult result for many researchers to see, especially as the pandemic actually witnessed some of science at its best – the global effort to produce effective vaccines under extreme pressure.

What a difference a year makes

Despite this worrying situation, there are signs that it is improving. In their latest report, the Pew Center conducted a survey on 9,593 US adults in October 2024, using the American Trends Panel – the Center’s primary source of survey data for public opinion research. They found that about three-quarters of Americans (76 percent) say they have either a great deal (26 percent) or a fair amount (51 percent) of confidence in scientists to act in the public’s best interests.

This represents a slight rise when compared to the last year, which found 73 percent expressed this confidence. However, this is still significantly lower than the situation in early 2020, where 87 percent of Americans had at least a fair amount of confidence.

The report also found that more Democrats express confidence in scientists to act in the public’s interests (88 percent) than Republicans (66 percent). This is a sizable gap in confidence, but it is up five points for Republicans since last year, which is the first uptick in trust among this political group since the start of the pandemic.

“Trust in science informs many of the everyday beliefs and actions of Americans, including things like whether or not to get a vaccine and how to view complex issues like climate change. We find that trust in science remains relatively high – and scientists enjoy better ratings than many other prominent groups, including business leaders and elected officials,” Alec Tyson, the Pew Research Center’s Associate Director of Research, told IFLScience.

“Still, public trust in scientists has yet to fully recover from declines that took place over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic and trust remains higher among Democrats than Republicans.”

Other findings: perception of scientist’s traits and characteristics 

According to the new report, the majority of Americans (89 percent) view research scientists as intelligent and believe they are focused on solving real-world problems (65 percent). Around 65 percent also believe these scientists are honest, while 71 percent see them as skilled at working in teams.

However, it seems part of the issue in confidence may relate to the perception of scientists’ communication skills. Fewer than half of the survey respondents (45 percent) saw research scientists as good communicators, representing a 9-point drop since 2019. At the same time, around half of Americans (49 percent) regard scientists as being socially awkward, and a similar number (47 percent) see them as feeling superior to others.

A lower number see scientists as being cold, closed-minded, or even inattentive to society’s moral values.

As may be expected, Democrats tend to see scientists more positively than Republicans, consistent with the levels of confidence they have in these people. Interestingly, among all the traits surveyed, Republicans are more negative today than they were in 2019 when it comes to their view of research scientists as focusing on real-world problems. This was down to 52 percent from 69 percent before the pandemic.

Scientists and policymaking 

The biggest divide in American public opinion was related to scientists’ role in policy-making on scientific issues. Overall, only 51 percent believed scientists should take an active role in public policy debates about scientific issues. In contrast, nearly 48 percent believed they should merely focus on establishing scientific facts and keep out of public policy debates.

Although the results of this latest survey represent a slight (3 point) uptick in the share of people who support an active policy role for scientists since 2022, when it was 48 percent, it is still much lower than it was before the pandemic, when 60 percent of Americans believed they should be active.

On the subject of scientists’ current level of policy engagement, 41 percent believe scientists don’t have enough influence in policy debates, while 37 percent believe they have the right amount. At the same time, however, 20 percent think scientists have too much influence.

In terms of party divide, Democrats have the more positive view of scientists’ role in policymaking. Around two-thirds of Democrats believe scientists should be active in such debates, and 61 percent think they do not have enough power to influence policy. In contrast, 64 percent of Republicans think scientists should focus on establishing facts and avoid policy discussions, while 34 percent of Republicans believe scientists have too much influence.

The road ahead

The results ultimately show a slight upward shift towards greater confidence in scientists since the pandemic, but there is still a way to go before things return to pre-COVID levels. Tyson and colleagues believe there are areas that can be focused on to continue this progress.

“We found that many Americans see room for improvement for scientists when it comes to their public communication skills. Fewer than half of Americans (45%) view scientists as good communicators – and the share who say this is 9 points lower than it was in 2019”, Tyson added.

“In addition, there are signs in our data that scientists can continue to work toward being seen as more relatable and connected to the everyday issues people face.”

Part of the process here may be for scientists to more openly “eat humble pie”, as Professor Jim Al-Khalili recently told IFLScience. 

A greater commitment to communicate the results and limitations of research to the public, while also being openly critical of those found to be abusing their position will go a long way. But the partisan differences are also significant here.

“For Republicans, there are questions about whether scientists are making decisions solely on the facts, or whether the personal biases of scientists color their judgment. By contrast, majorities of Democrats view scientists as making judgments based on the facts and believe they are better than others at shaping science policy.”

It is still too early to know the extent to which the results of the recent election will impact this progress. Although there are clearly areas that can be worked on to improve the public’s perception of scientists and the value of their expertise in relation to policymaking, the road ahead may be a rocky one.

The study can be accessed at the Pew Research Center.