Hi Mike P's link below shows the critical graph. Moderates have had less confidence in science than the mid 1970s, whereas Liberals and Conservatives were higher throughout that period. Then conservatives started a continuous decline that ultimately led them down to the level of Moderates. Liberals remained "high".
The "high" is in quotes because none of the groups has particularly striking levels of support for science. The question about confidence in science on the survey has three options: a great deal, some, hardly any. The dependent measure is proportion responding "a great deal." Even for the highest scoring group, the liberals, this figure is only around 50%. The conservatives start out there and decline to just under 40%. So no group has particularly high confidence in science, and our task, should we choose to accept it as psychology (science?) educators, is whether and how to promote more confidence in science. I often show these kinds of results when talking about critiques of science that refer to its hegemony over thinking in the West ... such as the relatively small percentage of people who disagree with the statement "we trust too much in science and not enough in faith", admittedly an ambiguous statement. We've got a long way to go before our "hegemony" is complete! Take care Jim James M. Clark Professor of Psychology 204-786-9757 204-774-4134 Fax [email protected] >>> "mjchael sylvester" <[email protected]> 31-Mar-12 12:01 PM >>> How about people with no party affiliation? Would they be distrustful of science? michael Mike P's link. > On another website, there is additional discussion plus the > first figure from the paper that shows the trend line for liberals, > moderates, and conservative; the figure says a lot: > http://cosmiclog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/03/29/10911111-study-tracks-how-conservatives-lost-their-faith-in-science?source=science20.com > --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [email protected]. To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df5d5&n=T&l=tips&o=17032 or send a blank email to leave-17032-13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df...@fsulist.frostburg.edu
