American Journal of Theoretical and Applied Statistics

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Public Perception of Science: Mapping the Concepts of Brazilian Undergraduate Students of the State of Sao Paulo through Structural Equation Modeling

Received: 12 November 2014    Accepted: 02 December 2014    Published: 27 December 2014
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Abstract

Once modern society depends in large-scale of scientific development, the degree of association between scientific knowledge and attitudes toward science has historical, social and political implications. In this sense, it becomes crucial to analyze the public attitudes regarding to science as these are related to the changing context of scientific practices and their implications for practical problems. Thus, we developed a survey instrument that allowed us to assess the causal relationships and correlations between conceptions, attitudes and socio-demographic factors in relation to science, using as a mediator theme the genetic engineering. Among the socio-demographic factors are included: gender, age, income, religion, schooling, consumption of information provided by the media, perception of knowledge and personal experience. For the composition of the sample, students from various undergraduate courses from public and private institutions were selected. The data were analyzed quantitatively by structural equation modeling. The results show that the conceptions that people have about science directly and positively influence their attitudes towards science. The social factors have their weight, but on a much smaller scale.

DOI 10.11648/j.ajtas.s.2014030601.11
Published in American Journal of Theoretical and Applied Statistics (Volume 3, Issue 6-1, December 2014)

This article belongs to the Special Issue Statistical Engineering

Page(s) 1-18
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Science, Public Perception of Science, Attitudes Regarding to Science, Statistical Indicators

References
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Author Information
  • Community College of Campinas, Campus III, FAC, Campinas, Sao Paulo, Brazil

  • Federal University of Sao Carlos, UFSCar Campus Araras, Sao Paulo, Brazil

  • Universitary Regional Center of Espirito Santo do Pinhal, UNIPINHAL, Sao Paulo Brazil

  • State University of Campinas, UNICAMP, Campinas, Sao Paulo, Brazil

  • Paulista State University, UNESP, S?o Paulo, Brasil

  • Municipal University of Sao Caetano do Sul, USCS, Sao Caetano do Sul, Sao Paulo, Brasil

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    Fernanda de Oliveira Simon, Estéfano Vizconde Veraszto, José Tarcísio Franco de Camargo, Dirceu da Silva, Leandro Valim de Freitas, et al. (2014). Public Perception of Science: Mapping the Concepts of Brazilian Undergraduate Students of the State of Sao Paulo through Structural Equation Modeling. American Journal of Theoretical and Applied Statistics, 3(6-1), 1-18. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajtas.s.2014030601.11

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    Fernanda de Oliveira Simon; Estéfano Vizconde Veraszto; José Tarcísio Franco de Camargo; Dirceu da Silva; Leandro Valim de Freitas, et al. Public Perception of Science: Mapping the Concepts of Brazilian Undergraduate Students of the State of Sao Paulo through Structural Equation Modeling. Am. J. Theor. Appl. Stat. 2014, 3(6-1), 1-18. doi: 10.11648/j.ajtas.s.2014030601.11

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    Fernanda de Oliveira Simon, Estéfano Vizconde Veraszto, José Tarcísio Franco de Camargo, Dirceu da Silva, Leandro Valim de Freitas, et al. Public Perception of Science: Mapping the Concepts of Brazilian Undergraduate Students of the State of Sao Paulo through Structural Equation Modeling. Am J Theor Appl Stat. 2014;3(6-1):1-18. doi: 10.11648/j.ajtas.s.2014030601.11

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ajtas.s.2014030601.11,
      author = {Fernanda de Oliveira Simon and Estéfano Vizconde Veraszto and José Tarcísio Franco de Camargo and Dirceu da Silva and Leandro Valim de Freitas and Nonato Assis de Miranda},
      title = {Public Perception of Science: Mapping the Concepts of Brazilian Undergraduate Students of the State of Sao Paulo through Structural Equation Modeling},
      journal = {American Journal of Theoretical and Applied Statistics},
      volume = {3},
      number = {6-1},
      pages = {1-18},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ajtas.s.2014030601.11},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajtas.s.2014030601.11},
      eprint = {https://download.sciencepg.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ajtas.s.2014030601.11},
      abstract = {Once modern society depends in large-scale of scientific development, the degree of association between scientific knowledge and attitudes toward science has historical, social and political implications. In this sense, it becomes crucial to analyze the public attitudes regarding to science as these are related to the changing context of scientific practices and their implications for practical problems. Thus, we developed a survey instrument that allowed us to assess the causal relationships and correlations between conceptions, attitudes and socio-demographic factors in relation to science, using as a mediator theme the genetic engineering. Among the socio-demographic factors are included: gender, age, income, religion, schooling, consumption of information provided by the media, perception of knowledge and personal experience. For the composition of the sample, students from various undergraduate courses from public and private institutions were selected. The data were analyzed quantitatively by structural equation modeling. The results show that the conceptions that people have about science directly and positively influence their attitudes towards science. The social factors have their weight, but on a much smaller scale.},
     year = {2014}
    }
    

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    T1  - Public Perception of Science: Mapping the Concepts of Brazilian Undergraduate Students of the State of Sao Paulo through Structural Equation Modeling
    AU  - Fernanda de Oliveira Simon
    AU  - Estéfano Vizconde Veraszto
    AU  - José Tarcísio Franco de Camargo
    AU  - Dirceu da Silva
    AU  - Leandro Valim de Freitas
    AU  - Nonato Assis de Miranda
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    PY  - 2014
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    DO  - 10.11648/j.ajtas.s.2014030601.11
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    JF  - American Journal of Theoretical and Applied Statistics
    JO  - American Journal of Theoretical and Applied Statistics
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    AB  - Once modern society depends in large-scale of scientific development, the degree of association between scientific knowledge and attitudes toward science has historical, social and political implications. In this sense, it becomes crucial to analyze the public attitudes regarding to science as these are related to the changing context of scientific practices and their implications for practical problems. Thus, we developed a survey instrument that allowed us to assess the causal relationships and correlations between conceptions, attitudes and socio-demographic factors in relation to science, using as a mediator theme the genetic engineering. Among the socio-demographic factors are included: gender, age, income, religion, schooling, consumption of information provided by the media, perception of knowledge and personal experience. For the composition of the sample, students from various undergraduate courses from public and private institutions were selected. The data were analyzed quantitatively by structural equation modeling. The results show that the conceptions that people have about science directly and positively influence their attitudes towards science. The social factors have their weight, but on a much smaller scale.
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