According to Millar (1996), the gulf between science and society is growing. Technologies
are tools cultures develop to solve society's problems. The rapid dispersion of science and
technology across cultural borders through trade, technology transfer and exchange,
increasingly requires people in different cultures to make choices about accepting or
rejecting artifacts of science and technology such as genetically modified (GM) foods,
which originate primarily from the United States.
These issues challenge policy makers and scientists to account for the affects of different
cultural perspectives on controversial scientific issues. Given the controversy across
cultures over acceptance or rejection of genetically modified (GM) foods, GM foods are an
excellent example with which to begin to reveal how culture impacts public perceptions of
the risk and benefits of science and technology in different societies. This research will: 1. Define public awareness and understanding of science, specifically
GM foods; 2. Examine culture's impact on knowledge, including different cultural
approaches to research; and 3. Compare recent findings of a bi-national public opinion
survey on GM comparing in South Korea and the United States. The proposed research
outlines two research questions:
1) How and in what ways do South Koreans and Americans differ in their opinions about
GMOs? This question is important for gathering current points of contrast about how the
two cultures may differ; and
2) What role does culture play on opinion formation about GM foods?
Through grounded theory, the researcher will investigate how cultural differences help
explain opinion on public perceptions of GM foods. Is it possible to identify common
cultural factors that impact public perceptions of GM foods between South Koreans and
Americans? The study will utilize both qualitative and quantitative methodologies. Higher
education is a major producer of new science and technology. The study is significant for
higher education administrators who must understand cultural factors impacting science
internationally and globalization of the academic enterprise.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:tamu.edu/oai:repository.tamu.edu:1969.1/4976 |
| Date | 25 April 2007 |
| Creators | Nader, Richard Harrison |
| Contributors | Lincoln, Yvonna S. |
| Publisher | Texas A&M University |
| Source Sets | Texas A and M University |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Book, Thesis, Electronic Dissertation, text |
| Format | 472906 bytes, electronic, application/pdf, born digital |
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