Key takeaways:

 ·Public confidence in science and scientists remains high, with the majority of American adults reporting positiveassessments of science and scientists.

Ahigher percentage of American adults had great confidence in both medical scientists(e.g., science practitionerssuch as physicians) and scientists generally in 2020 than they did in 2016; 24% reported a "great deal" of confidence inmedical scientists in 2016, and 43% of respondents reported such confidence in 2020, with an increase from21% to39% for scientists generally.

The majority of American adults report a basic understanding of scientific research principles such as the usefulnessof a study control group for comparison with a treatment group. At the same time, those who demonstrate greaterunderstanding of scientific logic tend to express more trust in scientists to act in the best interest of society thanthose who express less understanding.

American adults report seeking information on science more than their counterparts in most other countries withsimilarly high levels of research and development spending. In 2018, the majority of American adults had recentlysought information about medicine or disease.

Only a minority of American adults report any recent experience with various science activities, such as making observations for a research project (7%) or participating in an online crowdsourcing activity related to data collectionfor science (3%).

Households with greater parent educational attainment or income report more exposure to science through children's activities, such as school projects, than do households with lower educational attainment or income.