Measuring public trust in science from the perspective of Iranians

The purpose of this article is to measure public trust in scientific findings, scientific centers and researchers in Iran. With the increasing specialization of science and technology and its influence in everyday life and the expansion of media and communication tools, awareness about the consequences of the development of science and technology is distributed among social groups and people are aware of science and technology and its achievements. They look with more doubt. In the conditions of social distribution of knowledge, scientists alone do not have the knowledge and ability to predict all the social implications of innovation; This evolution has taken the evaluation of moral implications of science and technology out of the monopoly of scientists. Researchers of science and society try to explain different aspects of people's relationship with science and technology by posing their own questions, how to measure people's trust in science and technology and make them contribute to the growth and development of society, did.

In this study, we used descriptive method and survey design. To achieve the goal, a multi-stage cluster sampling method was used. The data collection tool was a questionnaire. The content and form validity of the questionnaire was done by using experts' opinion and checking their agreement coefficient. Also, the method of measuring the structural validity of the conceptual model (confirmatory factor analysis and examination of fit indices) was used, and Cronbach's alpha coefficient was used for the reliability of the prepared questions and items.

Regarding scientific findings, the respondents trusted issues related to scientific rules and regulations, confirmation of other sources, confirmation of other scientists, and the Internet. While the review by ordinary people and the confirmation of the media were not trusted by the respondents, the findings also showed that the majority of the society trusts