Probing “Public Understanding of Science” in China: An application and empirical study of “culture distance” model in China

The present paper in the first section localized and modified the culture distance model with Chinese education level being the control variable, by considering the Chinese civic scientific literacy survey index system and analyzing the latest data result of the 8th Chinese civic scientific literacy survey conducted in 2010. The “culture distance” model of China Public Understanding of Science was attained. The following sections, in detail, dealt with the application of the modified model on data sets collected in 2003, 2005, 2007 and 2010 in China. A comparative analysis was given between different groups and regions on public understanding of scientific knowledge, scientific methods and scientific concepts among Chinese citizens. The divergence and variation trends of public understanding of science were discussed among citizens with different factors such as: gender, education level and location. Suggestions on effectively communicating science in target populations in China were given at the end.