WASHINGTON, Sept. 20 (Xinhua) -- About 70 percent Americans express "at least some interest" in science news, but most get it by chance rather than actively searching for it, according to a new Pew Research Center study published Wednesday.
The survey, conducted earlier this year among a nationally representative sample of 4,024 adults aged 18 or older, found 25 percent are "very interested" in science news.
"Overall, of the news topics asked about, interest in science falls somewhere in the middle," it said.
"More Americans are very interested in local (41 percent) and political news (30 percent) than are very interested in science news, but science outpaces business (18 percent), sports (17 percent) and entertainment news (10 percent)."
It also found that about one-third (36 percent) of Americans get science news a few times per week, 30 percent typically seek it out and only 17 percent of Americans do both.
And the 17 percent of Americans who are "active science news consumers" turn to more types of providers for science news, are more likely to discuss science news, and of those who use social media, they are more likely to follow science pages or accounts, said the survey.
Meanwhile, a 54 percent majority of Americans regularly get their science news from general news outlets -- those that cover a range of news topics.
However, Americans considered a handful of specialty sources -- specifically science and technology museums, science magazines, and science documentaries -- as more likely to get the facts right about science.
Overall, most Americans (57 percent) said that the media do a good job in covering science news.
