Scientific Citizenship: A Study of the Understanding and Public Engagement of Science and Technology

A citizen science refers to a citizen, whose scientific information has given him or her special rights and responsibilities against the government, including the right to scientific participation; therefore we are dealing with active citizens who are fully involved in scientific decision-making and policy-making. So, this study sought to answer the key question: whether scientific citizenship has been formed among Tehran citizens? To answer the question, two important dimensions of scientific citizenship have been targeted which are: first public understanding and second public Engagement of citizens in different fields of Science and technology.  In this study, data was collected by questionnaire. Research population contains citizens of Tehran, that 204 have been selected for this study. the results of the public Engagement dimensions indicate that scientific citizenship has been shaped in terms of quality or in other words the interconnectedness of dimensions such as membership, rights and participation among respondents who expressed in the scientific associations are members; but in terms of quantity, it can be argued that the study population has not yet developed scientific citizenship. The analytical results of this study are: public understanding plays a significant role in the public Engagement of citizens. Therefore, the element of awareness or recognition in the promotion of scientific citizenship, which has not yet been formed, can be effective.