Wellcome Trust Monitor Wave 2

In a modern economy, it is vital for market researchers to engage with science and the advances of biomedicine. Ipsos conducted the second wave of the Wellcome Trust Monitor in 2012. The aim of the project was to gauge the public’s understanding, perception and experience of science, focussing on biomedical topics. It also played a unique part in establishing trends in public attitudes over a significant period of time.   Our survey yielded fascinating results – only half of adults say they have heard of the term ‘human genome’ and more young people than adults believe that children have the right to be vaccinated against serious diseases, even if it overrides their parents’ preference (by 69% to 80%). It has raised important debates on who should be making decisions in healthcare, what the role of government is and public and private responsibility.