Abstract
The purpose of this study is to examine the meaning of "don't know" (DK) answers in questionnaire surveys on the public perception of biotechnology. A questionnaire survey on public perception of biotechnology was conducted in June 2004 in Japan, and 541 respondents, who were residents of city, were analyzed. We analyzed how DK answers appeared in relation to other answers using Hayashi's quantification III. Two types of DK answers were found: Alienated DK and Ambivalent DK. Alienated DK appeared aside from the attitude differentiation between pros and cons, while Ambivalent DK appeared within the attitude differentiation. Analysis of the typical Alienated DK respondents showed that respondents had lesser knowledge of biotechnology as compared to the others. On the contrary, Ambivalent DK was exteriorized in questions on the personal use and preference of technology. On the basis of the results, the tacit dichotomy of public attitudes and the role of survey activities on science and technology were discussed.
