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Science 23 December 2005:
Vol. 310. no. 5756, pp. 1908 - 1909
DOI: 10.1126/science.1119444
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Policy Forum

COMMUNICATION:
Enhanced: Social Values and the Governance of Science

George Gaskell,1* Edna Einsiedel,2 William Hallman,3 Susanna Hornig Priest,4 Jonathan Jackson,1 Johannus Olsthoorn5

Representative sample surveys in the United States, Canada, and Europe showed that although a majority of the public wanted science policy to be made by expert assessment of scientific evidence, others wanted a stronger public voice and more weight given to moral and ethical issues. The authors of this Policy Forum found that people's preferences, about who should govern science and on what basis, were found to be related to their opinions about the utility of science and the regulation of genetically modified food and stem cell research. Although sound science receives a vote of confidence, minority views should not be ignored.

1Methodology Institute, London School of Economics and Political Science, London WC2A 2AE, UK. 2Faculty of Communication and Culture, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB T2N 1N4, Canada. 3Food Policy Institute, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ 08901, USA. 4College of Mass Communications and Information Studies, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC 29208, USA. 5Canadian Biotechnology Secretariat, Ottawa, K1A 0H5 Canada.

*Author for correspondence. E-mail: g.gaskell{at}lse.ac.uk

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THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Understanding public support for stem cell research: media communication, interpersonal communication and trust in key actors.
H. Liu and S. Priest (2009)
Public Understanding of Science 18, 704-718
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