ASSESSING THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING SCIENTIFIC LITERATE SOCIOLOGY

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South Korea and Japan are known countries that focus on technological advancement and development. According to most a recent study by European Commission, Meyer (2009) stated that Japan uses 3.39 percent of its GDP on research and development, while South Korea uses 3.23 percent and the United States spends 2.61 percent. In the contrary, China spends just 1.42 percent of its GDP. The amount of science and technology researching projects in Europe is growing, but the European Union is still slow comparing with the research and development investment targets of Japan and South Korea. If a nation is not scientifically literate, it may face problems like inadequate professional personnel or lack of research and development. Japan and South Korea that determined to be pioneering in the research and development field is gaining profits by selling their technology to the world. For example, car manufacturer, Toyota hybrid vehicle, Prius is favor by many western countries especially the United States. In addition, world’s most popular consumer electronics brand, Samsung from Korea capture the world consumer demand in electronics products. Undeniable, the scientific literacy in Japan and South Korea contributed in their success.

Figure 3: Scientific literacy by country (OECD)

Also, acquire from the National Science Foundation (NSF) document Science and Engineering Indicators 2006 in Figure 4, a survey that is designed to evaluate scientific literacy. Countries participating include: the United States, 25 European Union countries, South Korea, Japan, Russia, China, and Malaysia.

Figure 4: Survey questions from Science and Engineering Indicators