The latest Reader's Digest list of "Most trusted New Zealanders" is out, and shock, horror, the top three are scientists. Apparently the methodology is to sample ~ 750 people, giving them a list of names and asking them first, if they have some familiarity with the person and then, second, how they rank them in terms of trustworthiness. The PM had 97% recognition (my goodness, that means 3 % of us hadn't heard of him), and the three scientists had 35 % recognition. Onl
y the "recognising" respondents' answers are counted and then the rating is done pro rata.So there you are. If you believe this sort of nonsense, I am the third most trusted New Zealander. Ray Avery, the most trusted, is a legendary fellow, a philanthropist as well as a successful science entrepreneur. Both he and Peter Gluckman are friends of mine. The media are shocked by this outcome and the science community is delighted but stunned. What the hell is going on in this country?
For TVNZ coverage see
http://tvnz.co.nz/national-news/scientists-top-most-trusted-list-4247442/video?vid=4247440
For newspapers
http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/5166502/Who-are-New-Zealands-most-trusted-people
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10733460
For Science Media reaction
http://sciblogs.co.nz/molecular-matters/2011/06/20/woohoo-the-most-trusted-new-zealanders/
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