Survey: Strong trust in science: 38% in the United States and a big gap between the left and right factions

 Recently CNN.co.jp reported the following:

科学を強く信頼、米国は３８％　左右両派に大きな溝　調査

2020.10.24 Sat posted at 17:30 JST

 （ＣＮＮ） 米世論調査機関「ピュー・リサーチ・センター」は２４日までに、新型コロナウイルスの蔓延（まんえん）が世界的に進む中で科学に対する信頼感の度合いを探る国際調査を実施し、米国では左右両派寄りの立場に従って最も大きな意見の対立が見られたと報告した。

調査結果によると、科学者が国のために適切なことをしていることへの強い信頼感を示したのは米国成人の３８％。ただ、左派寄りでは６２％、右派寄りでは２０％と大きな差異が出た。

また、５６％が米軍への大きな信頼感を表明。ニュースメディアの場合は１３％、経済界の指導者は１１％、連邦政府は８％だった。

調査では、子ども向けワクチンの広範な接種や気候変動などの懸案も取り上げたが、米国では気候変動問題に対する意見でもリベラル、保守両派の間で大きな溝があることが判明。ただ、米政府による気候変動対策は過少とした調査参加者は６３％だった。

今回調査は、昨年１０月から今年３月にかけ２０カ国で３万２０００回以上の面接などして実施した。世界的に見た場合は科学への広範な信頼感が目立った。

米国内では新型コロナの感染が拡大する中で、公衆衛生の専門家らが科学の政治問題化を嘆く意見を公にもしている。これらの問題にはマスク着用の是非、ワクチン確保を急がせるような政治的な圧力や新型コロナ対策を仕切る公衆衛生の指導者らが打ち出した対策への疑問などが含まれる。

Translation

(CNN) The Pew Research Center, a US pollster, conducted an international survey up to the 24th to explore the degree of confidence in science as the epidemic of the new coronavirus spreading worldwide. It reported that in the US the biggest disagreement was seen according to the left and right position of the two sides.

According to the survey results, in the US 38% of the adults showed strong confidence that scientists were doing the right thing for the country. However, there was a big difference of 62% for the left wing, and 20% for the right wing.

In addition, 56% expressed a great sense of trust in the US military. In the case of news media, it was 13%, business leaders were 11%, and the federal government 8%.

The survey also addressed concerns such as widespread vaccination of children and climate change. In the United States, opinions on climate change issues also revealed that there was a big gap between liberals and conservatives. Among the survey participants, 63% of said that the US government had insufficient measures against climate change.

This survey was conducted from October last year to March this year, with more than 32,000 interviews in 20 countries. From a global perspective, widespread confidence in science stands out.

In the United States, amidst the outbreak of the new corona and its spreading, public health experts had publicly lamented the politicization of science. The problems included the pros and cons of wearing masks, political pressure to rush to secure vaccines, and doubts about the measures launched by public health leaders who were in charge of managing the new corona measures.

              So, it is amazing to note that the pros and cons of wearing masks during a pandemic can become a topic for debate in the US. In Asian countries no one will question about the usefulness of wearing masks as a tool to fight Covid-19. Is there a cultural difference between the east and the west in this respect?