Attitudes towards astronomy and the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) in South Africa

This report is one of the outputs associated with the HSRC Education and Skills Development (ESD) research programme's ongoing work on the Public Relationship with Science (PRS). A module of 14 questions capturing different aspects of public attitudes towards astronomy and the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) was developed and fielded as a special thematic focus alongside a broader PRS module in the eleventh round of the South African Social Attitudes Survey (SASAS), conducted in the last quarter of 2013. This drew on the experience of the 2010 SASAS round, which included an experimental PRS module commissioned by ESD. The SASAS series has been administered by the HSRC on an annual basis since 2003. It is a nationally representative sample survey of adults aged 16 and older that investigates public's attitudes, beliefs, behaviour patterns and values in the country. The long term aim of this survey programme is to construct an empirical evidence base that will enable analysts to track and explain the attitudes, beliefs and behaviour patterns of the country's diverse populations.