Polling trust in scientists in New Hampshire

Researchers asked residents of New Hampshire about their trust of scientists as a source of information about five topics: vaccines, climate change, nuclear power safety, evolution, and genetically modified organisms. The results, according (PDF) to the report, "offer modest encouragement regarding public trust in scientists."

Asked "Would you say that you trust, don't trust, or are unsure about scientists as a source of information about climate change," 62% of respondents said that they trust scientists, 23% that they were unsure, and 15% that they do not trust scientists.

Asked "Would you say that you trust, don't trust, or are unsure about scientists as a source of information about evolution," 63% of respondents said that they trust scientists, 21% said that they were unsure, and 16% that they do not trust scientists.

For both climate change and evolution, respondents with higher education levels, respondents who identified themselves with the Democratic Party, and respondents who identified themselves as ideologically liberal were more likely to trust scientists.

The data came from the Granite State Poll, run by the Survey Center at the University of New Hampshire, which conducted cell and landline telephone interviews with random samples of state residents from 2013 to 2015. There were 3037 respondents to the climate change question and 1409 respondents to the evolution question.