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Beliefs About Science and News Frames in Audience Evaluations of Embryonic and Adult Stem Cell Research
Craig O. Stewart*,
Daniel L. Dickerson,
and
Rose Hotchkiss
Old Dominion University
* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: CStewart{at}odu.edu.
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Abstract |
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This study investigates the influence of demographic variables, beliefs about science, and news frames on ratings of ethics, credibility, and usefulness of embryonic and adult stem cell research. Framing affected only ratings of ethics, in interaction with type of stem cell, with a large difference between embryonic and adult stem cells in a political conflict frame and no difference in a scientific progress frame. Belief that science is neutral with respect to religion and morality was positively associated with ethics and usefulness ratings for embryonic research; frequency of religious attendance was positively associated with ethics, credibility, and usefulness ratings for adult research only. Humanities and social science majors tended to rate both the embryonic and adult research as more credible, as did participants with higher self-reported science interest and exposure. Quantitative analyses are supplemented with qualitative interview data.
First published on November 24, 2008, doi:10.1177/1075547008326931
Science Communication 2009;30:427.
A more recent version of this article appeared on June 1, 2009

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