Public confidence in research remains consistently high in Sweden, but optimism about technology is waning. Furthermore, Swedes believe that research plays a positive role in improving politics. These are some of the findings of the 2024/25 science Barometer, conducted by the non-profit association Public & Science Sweden.
"Swedes’ confidence in research and university researchers remains stable and very high. Nearly nine out of ten express a high level of confidence in university researchers, and these figures have remained almost unchanged for about a decade," says Ulrika Björkstén, Secretary-General of Public & Science.
Research seen to improve politics
A prominent topic of debate in 2024 has been the role of universities and researchers in political matters. This year’s survey placed particular emphasis on Swedes’ views on the relationship between research and politics. Nearly half of respondents believe their own political party gives sufficient consideration to research findings, while an equal proportion believe politicians, in general, pay too little attention to research.
"We clearly see that Swedes think scientific evidence is important for political decision-making. A large majority also believe that researchers should express opinions on political issues related to their areas of expertise," says Ulrika Björkstén.
Growing pessimism about technological development
A significant change compared to previous surveys is the rising pessimism about technological developments. This year, one in five Swedes (22 percent) believe that technological developments will make life worse, a sharp increase from just 8 percent when the question was last asked in 2022.
"The marked decline in optimism over the past two years could be linked to growing concerns about the development of AI. ChatGPT was publicy released in December 2022, and since then, we’ve seen increased pessimism about the impact of technology on our lives," says Åsa Johansson Palmkvist, the researcher at Public & Science responsible for this year’s VA Barometer.
Trend: declining confidence among young people
Another noteworthy result from this year’s survey is a significant decline in confidence in research among the youngest age group (16–29 years). "It’s too early to determine whether this represents a trend or a temporary anomaly, but since last year, the proportion of young people with high confidence in research has sharply fallen from 81 per cent to 66 per cent,” commented Åsa Johansson Palmkvist.
The results of the VA Barometer 2024/2025 are based on 1,009 telephone interviews with a random sample of Sweden’s population aged 16–74 years, representative in terms of gender, age and place of residence. The interviews were conducted between August and October 2024. This is the 23rd survey since the non-profit association Public & Science Sweden was founded in 2002.