Pew Internet and American Life Project just issued a new report: The Internet as a Resource for News and Information about Science (pdf). It states that:
Fully 87% of online users have at one time used the internet to carry out research on a scientific topic or concept and 40 million adults use the internet as their primary source of news and information about science.
The report is chockful of statistics of great importance to us science bloggers. For instance:
Each respondent to this survey received questions on one of three specific scientific topics: stem cell research, climate change, and origins of life on Earth. When asked what source they would use first if they needed to learn more about the topic, here is what they said:
67% of those receiving questions about stem cell research said they would turn to the internet first for information on this topic; 11% said the library.
59% of respondents receiving questions about climate change said they would turn to the internet first for information on this topic; 12% said the library.
42% of those answering questions about the origins of life on Earth said they would turn to the internet first for information on this topic; 19% said the library, and 11% said the Bible or church.
Our blogs are indexed with Google and other search engines and will show up on top of searches for scientific information, especially if it is related to recent science news, so these data are important to keep in mind:
87% of stem cell respondents who cited the internet as their first choice for finding out more about their topic said they would use a search engine.
93% of climate change respondents who cited the internet as their first choice for finding out more about their topic said they would use a search engine.
91% of origin of life respondents who cited the internet as their first choice for finding out more about their topic said they would use a search engine.
There is much, much more about the use of online resources, as well as attitudes of internet users toward science. David Warlick and his commenters also look at the data from an educational perspective.
I urge you to dig through the information and post your own thoughts on whatever set of numbers or conclusions you find curious or important.
Update: David Warlick has more.
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