Attitudes to animal research in 2014
This report presents the findings of a 2014 survey commissioned by the Department for Business, Innovation & Skills (BIS) on public awareness of, and attitudes towards, the use of animals in scientific research. The survey also examines public awareness of possible alternatives to animal research. This is the first survey in a new research series looking at the UK public's attitudes to the use of animals in research and is expected to be re-run in approximately two years.
The questions in this survey are modelled on and similar to those from a long-running trend survey (see below). Fieldwork for the study reported in this volume was carried out at the same time as the tenth wave of the trend survey, using the same methodology but with different (though demographically matched) respondents.
While some questions are shared by both surveys, they are NOT directly comparable. The order in which questions are asked differs between the versions, which can have an effect on responses. Similarly, the questions for this (new) survey have been amended or updated through a process of cognitive testing, so there are alterations in the language of a number of questions which may appear similar - but are not identical - to the trend survey questions either in the formulation of the question or in the answer options available.
A separate report details the findings of the tenth wave of research on animal research that Ipsos has conducted. This wave was also commissioned by the Department for Business, Innovation & Skills (BIS) and was designed to track public attitudes to the use of animals in scientific research in Great Britain, covering the period 1999–2014.
Ipsos has conducted each wave of the survey employing the same face-to-face methodology and, where possible, consistent question wording, so that trend data in this report provides a clear picture over time of public attitudes to the use of animals in scientific research.
