During the Brexit referendum, the electorate were told by leave campaigners that experts were not needed.  The bemuzing argument was that they were sometimes wrong, and so could not be trusted.  Suffice to say, the argument was made in large part because their chosen policy was not supported by practically any expert, but it nonetheless resulted in a reduction in public faith in experts.

New research from King’s College London suggests it’s a faith that has been somewhat restored by the coronavirus pandemic, and especially among people in their formative years (defined as between 18-25 years).

“If past epidemics are a guide, the virus will not have an impact on the regard in which science as an undertaking is held,” the researchers say. “But it will reduce confidence in individual scientists, worsen perceptions of their honesty, and weaken the belief that their activities benefit the public.”

Reputational impact

The data, which was generated from the Wellcome Global Monitor Survey covering some 70,000 people from around the world, suggests that while the reputation of individual scientists might suffer during covid-19, the reputation of doctors, nurses, and other key scientific workers showed no such ill effects.

The researchers believe that for science to have its reputation restored, it’s important for those working in public health to ensure that their communication strives to maintain honesty and trustworthiness at all times, but especially to a younger audience whose perceptions are being forged.

“At a minimum, our findings suggest that scientists working on public health matters and others concerned with scientific communication should think harder about how to communicate trustworthiness and honesty and, specifically, about how the generation currently in their impressionable years (‘Generation Z’) perceives such attributes,” the researchers conclude. “In addition, our results suggest that scientific education will help.”