La perception des OGM par le public: remise en cause de quelques idées reçues

Two types of results about public perceptions of GMOs are presented. On the one hand, focus groups were used to study perceptions of GMOs among «ordinary citizens». In parallel, visions about the public held by actors engaged in the GMO controversy were also studied through interviews, participant observation and document analysis. In addition to the value of the results obtained separately from members of the public and from the actors, the comparison of these two components sheds new light on the subject of public perceptions of risk. The results suggest the persistence of a certain number of myths about the public which are shared among numerous actors but which are not supported by our analysis of the expression of citizens in the focus groups.