Abstract

The research field of public understanding of science has been well established in developed countries from both theoretical and applied perspectives since more than three decades. The relation between science and the public has been measured through surveys with the conspicuous leading of the National Science Foundation in the United States and the Eurobarometer in the European Union, surveys that have become the main international references. In Latin America, on the contrary, these kinds of surveys have only been systematically applied in the last decade. This article presents general results of the first study on interests, knowledge and understanding of science that has been done in Chile, at a regional level. A survey was applied in four regional capital cities in the south of the country using a questionnaire adapted from international reference instruments, which allows comparison with the results of international surveys.