PERSPECTIVE Correction for “Signaling the trustworthiness of science,” by Kathleen Hall Jamieson, Marcia McNutt, Veronique Kiermer, and Richard Sever, which was first published September 23, 2019; 10.1073/pnas.1913039116 (Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 116, 19231–19236).
The authors wish to note, “A coding error was uncovered in the survey vendor’s computer-assisted telephone interviewing (CATI) programming of the 2019 Annenberg Science Knowledge (ASK) survey used in our study. To minimize response order bias, the scale items ranging from 1 to 5 were programmed to reverse from 5 to 1 for a random half of the sample. Instead of recoding the responses to 1, 2, 4, and 5, the programmer recoded only 1 and 5. As a result, the data reported in the article underrepresented the percentage saying that the reported statements mattered.”
The error appears in the article text on page 19231, right column, second paragraph, lines 4–15. The published article stated:
“A 2019 survey (Fig. 1) found that the public recognizes key signals of the trustworthiness of scientific findings. Specifically, in deciding whether to believe a scientific finding, 68% said it matters whether the scientists make their data and methods available and are completely transparent about their methods; 63% reported that it matters whether the scientists involved in the study disclose the individuals and organizations that funded their work; and 55% indicated that it matters whether the study has been published in a peer-reviewed science journal.”
Fig. 1.
A national probability sample of 1,253 US adults conducted for the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania via telephone by Social Science Research Solutions from January 30 to February 7, 2019. The margin of error is ±3.42% at the 95% confidence level. Total cellular phone respondents were 854 (68% of the sample) while 399 respondents (32%) completed the survey using a landline. There were 39 respondents (3%) who completed the survey in Spanish. The response rate, which was calculated using the American Association for Public Opinion Research’s Response Rate 3 formula, was 7%. See the SI Appendix and Dataset S1 for additional details.
Instead, the passage should read:
“A 2019 survey (Fig. 1) found that the public recognizes key signals of the trustworthiness of scientific findings. Specifically, in deciding whether to believe a scientific finding, 72% said it matters whether the scientists make their data and methods available and are completely transparent about their methods; 67% reported that it matters whether the scientists involved in the study disclose the individuals and organizations that funded their work; and 62% indicated that it matters whether the study has been published in a peer-reviewed science journal.”
The error also affects Fig. 1. The corrected Fig. 1 and its legend appear below. The SI Appendix and Dataset S1 have been corrected online.