Muğaloğlu Ebru Zeynep, Kaymaz Zeynep, Mısır Muhammet Emin, Laçin-Şimşek Canan
Faculty of Education, Department of Mathematics and Science Education, Boğaziçi University, Istanbul, Turkey.
The Institute for Graduate Studies in Social Sciences, Boğaziçi University, Istanbul, Turkey.
Sci Educ (Dordr). 2022;31(5):1281-1309. doi: 10.1007/s11191-022-00323-5. Epub 2022 Feb 5.
The devastating COVID-19 pandemic has cast a light on the question of why trust in scientists is important. This mixed-method study aimed to explore the study participants' trust in scientists about getting the COVID-19 vaccine. It also aimed to reveal which key sources of information participants followed about the pandemic. Participants' health-related behaviors and justifications for their behaviors as a response to the pandemic were also explored to understand how trust in scientists and sources of information played a role in the fight against COVID-19. The responses of 1233 participants across Turkey were analyzed. The findings indicated that trust in scientists and compliance with the scientists' suggested behaviors among the participants were quite high. It was also revealed that, for both trust and non-trust groups, participants questioned the reliability of information and the sources. Participants justified their behaviors mainly by referring to policies, e.g., masks, distance, and hygiene, developed and implemented with the collaboration of government, scientists, and the World Health Organization. Moreover, trust issues regarding scientists, government authorities, or other citizens were mentioned in participants' justifications. The current study also shed light on the importance of building trust through an open and healthy dialogue among scientists, government authorities, and the public to overcome the COVID-19 pandemic. The study highlighted the need for scientifically informed citizens to deal with the problems, i.e., misinformation and disinformation, in the post-truth era such as not jeopardizing effective solutions to eliminate the pandemic, e.g., taking the vaccine.
毁灭性的新冠疫情让人们开始关注为何信任科学家至关重要这一问题。这项混合方法研究旨在探讨研究参与者对科学家在新冠疫苗接种方面的信任情况。它还旨在揭示参与者关注的有关疫情的关键信息来源。此外,还探究了参与者与健康相关的行为以及他们针对疫情所采取行为的理由,以了解对科学家的信任和信息来源在抗击新冠疫情中所起的作用。对土耳其各地1233名参与者的回答进行了分析。研究结果表明,参与者对科学家的信任以及对科学家建议行为的遵从程度相当高。研究还发现,无论是信任组还是不信任组,参与者都会质疑信息及信息来源的可靠性。参与者主要通过提及与政府、科学家和世界卫生组织合作制定并实施的政策(如戴口罩、保持社交距离和注重卫生)来为自己的行为辩解。此外,参与者在辩解中还提到了对科学家、政府当局或其他公民的信任问题。当前的研究还揭示了科学家、政府当局和公众之间通过开放且健康的对话建立信任对于战胜新冠疫情的重要性。该研究强调,在“后真相”时代,需要有具备科学素养的公民来应对诸如不实信息和虚假信息等问题,以免危及消除疫情的有效解决方案,比如接种疫苗。