Research serves as a foundation for political decisions and as a basis for opinion formation on political issues. Recent experiences have shown that high trust in research cannot be taken for granted and that trust has been challenged by an increasing politicization of research knowledge. Lack of trust in research can lead to societal disagreement about what is true and untrue. At the same time, blindly high trust can result in a lack of critical debate and decisions based on shaky foundations.
The project has both substantive and methodological purposes. Substantively, we aim to analyze and further develop knowledge on citizen's attitudes to and trust in research in the case of Norway. The project will investigate two overarching issues:
- Which perceptions and aspects of research are emphasized when people express trust or distrust?
- What explains people's attitudes to research, including trust and distrust?
Methodologically, the project will continue existing time series and establish a panel structure where the same individuals are followed over time. Drawing on the international research frontier, we will also develop new survey instruments and experimental approaches.
Overall, the project will generate knowledge about trust in research in Norway from a comparative perspective. Norwegian trust research has primarily focused on interpersonal trust and trust in political and administrative institutions and actors. Trust in research has received less attention. Internationally, this type of research is dominated by studies from an American and British context. A study of trust in research in a Norwegian context will better equip us to understand the intersection between research and society and thus be useful for research communication and the use of research results.
The project has three main objectives:
- Develop methods to measure people's attitudes to, perceptions of, and trust in research and related institutions and actors.
- Generate new knowledge about the Norwegian population's attitudes to and trust in research.
- Engage in dialogue with relevant stakeholders, societal actors, and the public more generally, and disseminate the project's results to them.
In line with the main objectives, the project has the following sub-goals:
- Design survey setups and facilitate future data collection on the Norwegian population's attitudes to and trust in research.
- Analyze existing and new data to write scientific journal articles contributing to the international literature on trust in research. The articles will provide a knowledge base for a nuanced understanding of citizen’s attitudes to and trust in research.
- Disseminate the project's results and findings to the Norwegian public through popular science channels, the media, and seminars.
