[Social perception of biomedicine in Spain].

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES

There is increasing concern that studies of public understanding of science, especially biomedicine, should be expected to bring shared frameworks to European and national policies. The present article aims to provide a critical overview of the most recent studies of public understanding of biomedicine in Spain. Specifically, this essay reviews the similarities and differences in the latest European and Spanish surveys.

MATERIAL AND METHOD

Throughout this article we compare the Third National Survey of Social Perception of Science and Technology produced by the Spanish National Science and Technology Foundation, focusing on issues related to biomedicine, and the Medical and Health Research. A special Eurobarometer Public Survey published by the European Commission.

RESULTS

The two surveys were compared attending to the three main common items of science, technology and biomedicine: the level of interest, the level of information and political attitudes. Some discrepancies in the results of the two studies, such as public interest in these subjects, may partly be due to the different methodologies used in the survey designs.

CONCLUSIONS

Further national studies exploring public understanding of science, technology and biomedicine at the national level, as well as the use of European standards, would be of great help in other cross-national studies and policies. Improving qualitative studies would also be useful to strengthen relations among science, technology and society.