… By more than a three-to-one margin, more Americans think global warming is happening than think it is not. Currently, 64% of Americans think global is happening, a number that has been relatively stable over the past three years. … Few Americans are “very worried” about global warming and many […] Read more »
In U.S., 42% Believe Creationist View of Human Origins
More than four in 10 Americans continue to believe that God created humans in their present form 10,000 years ago, a view that has changed little over the past three decades. Half of Americans believe humans evolved, with the majority of these saying God guided the evolutionary process. However, the […] Read more »
Americans’ Views on Origins of Homosexuality Remain Split
In a year when the movement for same-sex marriages continues to make strides across the U.S., Americans remain divided on how people come to be gay or lesbian. More than a third of Americans (37%) believe people become gay as a result of factors such as their upbringing and environment, […] Read more »
What’s In A Name? Global Warming Versus Climate Change
… What do the terms “global warming” and “climate change” mean to the American public? Are they synonyms? Does the public see and use each term equally? Do they interpret and respond to the two terms in the same way? Or do they view and respond to each term differently? […] Read more »
You’d have to be science illiterate to think ‘belief in evolution’ measures science literacy
… What should be measured, in my view, is a quality of ordinary science intelligence — not some inventory of facts (“electrons are smaller than atoms — check!”) but rather an ability to to distinguish valid from invalid claims to scientific insight and a disposition to use science’s signature style […] Read more »
Tea Party Members Really, Really Don’t Trust Scientists
It’s one of the biggest trends in US politics over the last decade: A growing left-right split over the validity of scientific information. This “science gap” is apparent most of all on the issue of climate change, but the problem is much broader, encompassing topics ranging from evolution to the […] Read more »