To be able to take prompt and proper actions to overcome the pandemic, on the one hand, politicians and government authorities were expected to trust in scientists and make policies in accordance with their explanations and suggestions. Therefore, the concept “trust in scientists” has become a hot topic amid the discussions on tackling one of the most crucial public health emergencies in history. The problem’s solution required close collaboration between policymakers and the scientific community to develop and implement policies in line with suggestions from the scientific community. Policymakers and governments worldwide have been forced to develop and implement the necessary policies to fight the pandemic immediately following the outbreak. The COVID-19 outbreak has remained a science-related issue and has constituted a public health emergency of international concern. In addition to understanding scientific explanations in the context of COVID-19, citizens need to be critical of related claims from various sources they also need to be “aware of the information that would increase confidence in them ” (Ford, 2008, p. As highlighted by Erduran ( 2020), the COVID-19 pandemic showed that “understanding science in context is not a luxury but a necessity in our times” (p. COVID-19 is an infectious disease caused by the coronavirus. Having such citizens is crucial, especially when citizens need to take action based on informed decisions to be a part of a solution to a science-related issue such as the COVID-19 pandemic. Scientifically informed citizens are “able to understand scientific claims as tentative, as deserving a fitting degree of confidence and skepticism – a stance that is neither gullible nor inflexible, but appropriately critical” (Ford, 2008, p. One of the goals of science education in the K–12 curriculum is to raise scientifically informed citizens (Ateş, 2020 Ford, 2008). The study highlighted the need for scientifically informed citizens to deal with the problems, i.e., misinformation and disinformation, in the post-truth era such as not jeopardizing effective solutions to eliminate the pandemic, e.g., taking the vaccine. The current study also shed light on the importance of building trust through an open and healthy dialogue among scientists, government authorities, and the public to overcome the COVID-19 pandemic. Moreover, trust issues regarding scientists, government authorities, or other citizens were mentioned in participants’ justifications. Participants justified their behaviors mainly by referring to policies, e.g., masks, distance, and hygiene, developed and implemented with the collaboration of government, scientists, and the World Health Organization. It was also revealed that, for both trust and non-trust groups, participants questioned the reliability of information and the sources. The findings indicated that trust in scientists and compliance with the scientists’ suggested behaviors among the participants were quite high. The responses of 1233 participants across Turkey were analyzed. Participants’ health-related behaviors and justifications for their behaviors as a response to the pandemic were also explored to understand how trust in scientists and sources of information played a role in the fight against COVID-19. It also aimed to reveal which key sources of information participants followed about the pandemic. This mixed-method study aimed to explore the study participants’ trust in scientists about getting the COVID-19 vaccine. The devastating COVID-19 pandemic has cast a light on the question of why trust in scientists is important.
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