What is Scientists

In the last 60 years, many researchers have thoroughly examined public school students' perceptions of scientists (Barman, 1997; Chambers, 1983; Fort & Varney, 1989; Mead & Meraux, 1957; Schibeci & Sorenson, 1983). It has long been established and commonly accepted that many students, for example, perceive scientists in a negative light, as living lonely and isolated lives, being detached from reality and constrained by their work (Barman, 1997; Chambers, 1983; Fort & Varney, 1989; Mead & Meraux, 1957; Schibeci & Sorenson, 1983). Throughout this sixty years there has been an increase in learning about scientists outside these traditional settings public school classroom. Over 1.7 million students (3.4% of the population) in the United States are homeschooled. An investigation of home-schooled students' and their perceptions of scientists have never been investigated. This chapter compares home-school students in grades two through 10 with public school students in the same grades to determine if any differences exist between the groups relative to their perceptions of scientists.