Public Trust In Doctors Is Still High
Ipsos have been monitoring public trust in professions since 1983. Doctors are consistently rated as the most trustworthy of a variety of professionals -- including teachers, scientists, politicians and journalists.
This year the poll, commissioned by the Royal College of Physicians (RCP), shows that the public's trust in doctors remains high, with 92% of GB adults trusting them to tell the truth.
Teachers, professors, judges and clergymen/priests are also considered trustworthy by at least three-quarters of the population.
Journalists are considered to be the least trustworthy professionals (only 19% of adults trust them to tell the truth). Politicians and government ministers come marginally, but not significantly ahead -- only one in five adults trust them to tell the truth.
Q1 Now I will read you a list of different types of people. For each would you tell me if you generally trust them to tell the truth, or not?Base: 2,074 British adults aged 15+.
| Tell the truth | Not tell the truth | Don't know | |
|---|---|---|---|
| % | % | % | |
| Doctors | 92 | 5 | 3 |
| Teachers | 88 | 7 | 5 |
| Professors | 80 | 8 | 12 |
| Judges | 75 | 16 | 10 |
| Clergy/priests | 75 | 17 | 9 |
| Scientists | 72 | 16 | 13 |
| TV news readers | 66 | 21 | 13 |
| The Police | 61 | 29 | 10 |
| The ordinary man / woman in the street | 56 | 29 | 15 |
| Pollsters | 51 | 29 | 21 |
| Civil servants | 48 | 37 | 15 |
| Trade union officials | 41 | 42 | 17 |
| Business leaders | 31 | 56 | 14 |
| Gov ministers | 22 | 70 | 8 |
| Politicians in general | 20 | 72 | 8 |
| Journalists | 19 | 72 | 9 |
Technical details
Ipsos conducted 2,074 interviews with adults aged 15 plus, in-home and face-to-face, between 12-16 October 2006 in 188 sampling points throughout Great Britain. Data are weighted to match the profile of the population.
