TY - JOUR
T1 - The polls - Trends
T2 - Evolution, creationism, and the teaching of human origins in schools
AU - Plutzer, Eric
AU - Berkman, Michael
N1 - Funding Information:
aHuman beings, developed from earlier species of animals, true or false? (no quiz preamble). bNSF survey switched from NIU to ORC-Macro this year. NSF, National Science Foundation Survey of Scientific Literacy conducted by Northern Illinois University and ORC-Macro; Harris, Harris Poll.
Funding Information:
ERIC PLUTZER AND MICHAEL BERKMAN are with the Department of Political Science, Pond Laboratory 219, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA. This research was supported, in part, by a grant from the National Science Foundation (SES # 0350541). We thank Paul Rutledge for his research assistance at the early stages of this project. Address correspondence to Michael Berkman; e-mail: [email protected], [email protected].
PY - 2008/8
Y1 - 2008/8
N2 - This article traces public opinion polls concerning the theory of evolution spanning the period 1981 through 2007. We report on polling trends concerning US citizens' beliefs about the origins of mankind and other species, individuals' certainty and knowledge of the debate, and their understanding of the scientific evidence bearing on evolutionary theory. We conclude by examining preferences for public school policy: What is the appropriate treatment of human origins in science curricula? We show that US public opinion is at odds with the curricula mandated by the nation's state governments.
AB - This article traces public opinion polls concerning the theory of evolution spanning the period 1981 through 2007. We report on polling trends concerning US citizens' beliefs about the origins of mankind and other species, individuals' certainty and knowledge of the debate, and their understanding of the scientific evidence bearing on evolutionary theory. We conclude by examining preferences for public school policy: What is the appropriate treatment of human origins in science curricula? We show that US public opinion is at odds with the curricula mandated by the nation's state governments.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=45149119106&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=45149119106&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1093/poq/nfn034
DO - 10.1093/poq/nfn034
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:45149119106
SN - 0033-362X
VL - 72
SP - 540
EP - 553
JO - Public Opinion Quarterly
JF - Public Opinion Quarterly
IS - 3
ER -