1. Development of a novel methodology for ascertaining scientific opinion and extent of agreement.
- Author
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Peter Vickers, Ludovica Adamo, Mark Alfano, Cory Clark, Eleonora Cresto, He Cui, Haixin Dang, Finnur Dellsén, Nathalie Dupin, Laura Gradowski, Simon Graf, Aline Guevara, Mark Hallap, Jesse Hamilton, Mariann Hardey, Paula Helm, Asheley Landrum, Neil Levy, Edouard Machery, Sarah Mills, Seán Muller, Joanne Sheppard, Shinod N K, Matthew Slater, Jacob Stegenga, Henning Strandin, Michael T Stuart, David Sweet, Ufuk Tasdan, Henry Taylor, Owen Towler, Dana Tulodziecki, Heidi Tworek, Rebecca Wallbank, Harald Wiltsche, and Samantha Mitchell Finnigan
- Subjects
Medicine ,Science - Abstract
We take up the challenge of developing an international network with capacity to survey the world's scientists on an ongoing basis, providing rich datasets regarding the opinions of scientists and scientific sub-communities, both at a time and also over time. The novel methodology employed sees local coordinators, at each institution in the network, sending survey invitation emails internally to scientists at their home institution. The emails link to a '10 second survey', where the participant is presented with a single statement to consider, and a standard five-point Likert scale. In June 2023, a group of 30 philosophers and social scientists invited 20,085 scientists across 30 institutions in 12 countries to participate, gathering 6,807 responses to the statement Science has put it beyond reasonable doubt that COVID-19 is caused by a virus. The study demonstrates that it is possible to establish a global network to quickly ascertain scientific opinion on a large international scale, with high response rate, low opt-out rate, and in a way that allows for significant (perhaps indefinite) repeatability. Measuring scientific opinion in this new way would be a valuable complement to currently available approaches, potentially informing policy decisions and public understanding across diverse fields.
- Published
- 2024
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