MOSCOW, 29 November 2022. Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VCIOM) presents the findings of a survey about public interest in the Russian science.
The unknown is always interesting
Most of Russians show interest in the information concerning the achievements of the Russian scientists (84%); 18% of them intentionally look for and study such information. Fifteen percent of respondents say that they are not interested in such topics. Over five years these percentages have not changed: in 2017, 85% of Russians were interested in the scientific news. Science enthusiasts – those who actively and intentionally look for and study information related to the Russian science - are basically men (23% vs. 13% women), young respondents aged 18-24 (20%), people with higher education (22% vs. 8% of those who have incomplete secondary education), residents of million-plus cities (23%) and active Internet users (24%).
Russians with incomplete secondary education (38%), respondents who assess their financial situation as bad (22%), and persons who do not use the Internet and television (41%) tend to report low levels of interest in the Russian science. |
Science and mass media
In the Soviet times, people could get acquainted with scientific discoveries through TV programs, public lectures and periodicals; magazines such as “Znanie-sila”, “Zemlya i Vselennaya”, “Tekhnika – molodezhi” were widely popular. Nowadays, science is promoted primarily through the Internet and social media. More than half of Russians say that over the recent year they have somewhat come cross various information related to the Russian science in mass media (62%; 64% in 2017); 22% of them, regularly (20% in 2017). Those who come across topics related to the Russian science most often are persons aged 45-59 (29% encounter such news regularly vs. 13% and 12% of young persons aged 18-34), as well as respondents with higher education diplomas (26% regularly look through such news), which is 6.5-fold higher compared to the percentage of those who have incomplete secondary education (4%). Media consumption is also a factor contributing to the way people get news about the Russian science: 69% of those who prefer both TV and Internet have come across such news; this percentage is lower among those who are active TV viewers and Internet users (58% respectively).
Of all the federal districts, inhabitants of the Southern federal district are the most informed about the achievements of the Russian science: 74% of respondents have come across scientific topics in mass media over the recent year; every third, regularly (34%). This district also shows the highest percentage of those who are extremely interested in the Russian science and intentionally look for and study such news (23%). |
Thirty percent of Russians who report to have come across information about Russian scientific achievements over the recent year encountered such news once a week or more often (40% of older Russians and active TV viewers); five years ago this percentage was similar (28%). Another 25% read or saw such information several times a month. Another 41% say they encountered information about the Russian science less often than once a month (42% in 2017).
Defense, space, healthcare
According to Russians, the Russian science is leading in defense (25%), space (21%) and healthcare (20%). Nine percent of respondents point to nuclear industry; information technology and agricultural industry are mentioned by 5% (each). Physics and chemistry are cited by 3% (each). Men are more likely to point to military industry (32% vs. 19% of men); on the contrary women mention healthcare (26% vs. 13% of men). Older Russians speak of space (32% of respondents aged 60+).
VCIOM-Sputnik Russian nationwide telephone survey was conducted 18 November, 2022. A total of 1,600 Russians aged 18 and over took part in the survey. Survey method: telephone interviews, stratified random sample based on a complete list mobile phone numbers in use in Russia. The data were weighted according to social and demographic characteristics. The margin of error at a 95% confidence level does not exceed 2.5%. In addition to sampling error, minor changes to the wording of questions and different circumstances arising during the fieldwork can introduce bias into the survey.
Key effectiveness indicators, November 18, 2022: cooperation rate (CR)* = 0.8090; minimum response rate (MRR)** = 0.0215; response rate (RR)*** = 0.1622. Calculations are based on the corporate standard: https://profi.wciom.ru/principy_standarty/korporativnyj-standart-po-izmereniyu-rezultativnosti-oprosov-sputnik-vciom/
* CR: the number of complete interviews divided by the sum of: а) complete interviews and b) non-interviews with eligible respondents.
** MRR: the number of complete interviews divided by the sum of: а) complete interviews, b) interrupted interviews after successful screening and c) all the respondents where it is unknown whether they meet the selected criteria or not.
** RR is calculated in the same way as MRR, with the only difference that the number of respondents with unknown eligibility decreases proportional to the percentage of eligible cases in the total number of respondents with identified eligibility or non-eligibility.
Are you personally interested in the information concerning today’s scientific achievements of the Russian scientists, or not? (closed-ended question, one answer, % of total respondents) | |||
| 2017 | 2022 |
|
Interested; I can intentionally look for and study this kind of information | 18 | 18 |
|
Interested but I will not look for this information intentionally | 67 | 66 |
|
Not interested | 14 | 15 |
|
Don’t know | 1 | 1 |
|
Are you personally interested in the information concerning today’s scientific achievements of the Russian scientists, or not? (closed-ended question, one answer, % of total respondents) | ||||||||
| Total respondents | Male | Female | Ages 18-24 | 25-34 | 35-44 | 45-59 | 60 + |
Interested; I can intentionally look for and study this kind of information | 18 | 23 | 13 | 20 | 18 | 17 | 18 | 16 |
Interested but I will not look for this information intentionally | 66 | 63 | 69 | 60 | 67 | 66 | 66 | 67 |
Not interested | 15 | 12 | 16 | 20 | 15 | 16 | 13 | 13 |
Don’t know | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 4 |
Are you personally interested in the information concerning today’s scientific achievements of the Russian scientists, or not? (closed-ended question, one answer) | |||||
Total respondents | Incomplete secondary education | Secondary education (school or vocational school) | Secondary special education (technical college) | Incomplete higher (from 3d year), higher education | |
Interested; I can intentionally look for and study this kind of information | 18 | 8 | 18 | 13 | 22 |
Interested but I will not look for this information intentionally | 66 | 51 | 58 | 66 | 70 |
Not interested | 15 | 38 | 22 | 18 | 6 |
Don’t know | 1 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 2 |
Over the recent year have you come across any information about Russian scientific achievements in mass media, or not? (closed-ended question, one answer, % of total respondents) | |||
| 2017 | 2022 |
|
I regularly come across such information | 20 | 22 |
|
I rarely come across such information | 44 | 40 |
|
I have never come across such information | 33 | 33 |
|
Don’t know | 3 | 5 |
|
Over the recent year have you come across any information about Russian scientific achievements in mass media, or not? (closed-ended question, one answer, % of total respondents) | |||||||||
| Total respondents | Male | Female | Ages 18-24 | 25-34 | 35-44 | 45-59 | 60+ |
|
I regularly come across such information | 22 | 24 | 20 | 13 | 12 | 22 | 29 | 24 |
|
I rarely come across such information | 40 | 40 | 41 | 51 | 44 | 39 | 35 | 40 |
|
I have never come across such information | 33 | 33 | 33 | 35 | 39 | 34 | 33 | 29 |
|
Don’t know | 5 | 3 | 6 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 7 |
|
Over the recent year have you come across any information about Russian scientific achievements in mass media, or not? (closed-ended question, one answer, % of total respondents) | ||||||
| Total respondents | Incomplete secondary education | Secondary education (school or vocational school) | Secondary special education (technical college) | Incomplete higher (from 3d year), higher education |
|
I regularly come across such information | 22 | 4 | 21 | 19 | 26 |
|
I rarely come across such information | 40 | 34 | 36 | 39 | 43 |
|
I have never come across such information | 33 | 55 | 37 | 36 | 27 |
|
Don’t know | 5 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 4 |
|
On average, how often do you come across this kind of information? (closed-ended question, one answer, % of those who came across this information) | ||
| 2017 | 2022 |
Once a week or more often | 28 | 30 |
2-3 times a month | 26 | 25 |
Less often than once a month | 42 | 41 |
Don’t know | 4 | 4 |
On average, how often do you come across this kind of information? (closed-ended question, one answer, % of those who came across this information) | |||||||
| Total respondents | Ages 18-24 | 25-34 | 35-44 | 45-59 | 60 and older |
|
Once a week or more often | 30 | 20 | 14 | 24 | 35 | 40 |
|
2-3 times a month | 25 | 30 | 30 | 25 | 22 | 22 |
|
Less often than once a month | 41 | 49 | 53 | 48 | 39 | 30 |
|
Don’t know | 4 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 8 |
|
On average, how often do you come across this kind of information? (closed-ended question, one answer, % of those who came across this information) | |||||
| Total respondents | Incomplete secondary education | Secondary education (school or vocational school) | Secondary special education (technical college) | Incomplete higher (from 3d year), higher education |
Once a week or more often | 30 | 18 | 25 | 29 | 32 |
2-3 times a month | 25 | 21 | 21 | 27 | 24 |
Less often than once a month | 41 | 53 | 47 | 39 | 41 |
Don’t know | 4 | 8 | 7 | 5 | 3 |
In your opinion, what areas is the Russian science leading in? Up to 3 areas can be mentioned (open-ended question, up to 3 answers, % of total respondents) | |
Military industry / defense / army / armament / defense | 25 |
Space industry | 21 |
Health care / medicine / vaccine engineering / prosthesis / pharmaceutics | 20 |
Nuclear industry / atomic energy industry / nuclear power industry | 9 |
Agrarian field / agro-industry / agriculture | 5 |
IT / computer technologies / programming | 5 |
Physics | 3 |
Chemistry / chemical industry | 3 |
Oil industry / oil processing | 2 |
Mathematics | 2 |
Aircraft construction / aviation | 2 |
All the spheres | 2 |
No spheres | 7 |
Other | 19 |
Don’t know | 34 |