A study found a short conversation with a gay person could make people more open to marriage equality, and the media reported it as a hopeful sign. But the findings were faked. Ivan Oransky of Retraction Watch tells Brooke how the bad data got past the peer review process, journalists, […] Read more »
Majority Now Say Gays and Lesbians Born, Not Made
For the first time, a majority of Americans say same-sex orientation is something gays and lesbians are born with rather than something that is determined by their upbringing or environment. Over the past 15 years, Americans had been much more closely divided on the issue. And in the 1970s and […] Read more »
Simple Messages Help Set the Record Straight about Scientific Agreement on Human-Caused Climate Change: The Results of Two Experiments
Human-caused climate change is happening; nearly all climate scientists are convinced of this basic fact according to surveys of experts and reviews of the peer-reviewed literature. Yet, among the American public, there is widespread misunderstanding of this scientific consensus. In this paper, we report results from two experiments, conducted with […] Read more »
Views on Climate Change Stable After Extreme Winter
Although climate scientists have been in the news describing this winter as a strong signal that global warming is producing more extreme weather, Americans are no more likely today (55%) than in the past two years to believe the effects of global warming are occurring. CONT. Lydia Saad, Gallup Read more »
Science vs. Religion … or Science and Religion?
… A newly-published study by sociologists Timothy O’Brien and Shiri Noy … “indicates that the conflict between science and religion may be limited to a few specific issues,” specifically evolution and creation. Religious Americans are not less knowledgeable about or supportive of science generally, “but may choose to interpret events […] Read more »
The Scientific Consensus on Climate Change as a Gateway Belief: Experimental Evidence
… Using national data (N = 1104) from a consensus-message experiment, we find that increasing public perceptions of the scientific consensus is significantly and causally associated with an increase in the belief that climate change is happening, human-caused and a worrisome threat. In turn, changes in these key beliefs are […] Read more »