NCSE Evolution and Climate Change Update, 12/20/13

EVOLUTION IN A NEW HARRIS POLL

A recent Harris poll addressed evolution and creationism, with unsurprising results. Those surveyed were given a list of topics— including God, miracles, heaven, Jesus as God or the son of God, angels, survival of the soul after death, the resurrection of Jesus, Hell, the virgin birth, the Devil, “Darwin’s theory of evolution,” ghosts, creationism, UFOs, astrology, witches, and reincarnation— and asked, “Please indicate for each one if you believe in it, or not.” For evolution, 47% of respondents indicated that they believed in it, 29% indicated that they don’t believe in it, and 25% indicated that they were not sure. For creationism, 36% of respondents indicated that they believed in it, 31% indicated that they don’t believe in it, and 33% indicated that they were not sure.

The results varied dramatically by political affiliation: 36% of Republicans, 52% of Democrats, and 51% of independents indicated that they believed in “Darwin’s theory of evolution,” while 49% of Republicans, 30% of Democrats, and 34% of independents indicated that they believed in creationism. But the results varied only slightly by generation: 49% of Echo Boomers (18-36), 48% of Gen Xers (37-48), 45% of Baby Boomers (49-67), and 43% of Matures (68+) indicated that they believed in “Darwin’s theory of evolution,” while 33% of Echo Boomers, 35% of Gen Xers, 38% of Baby Boomers, and 37% of Matures indicated that they believed in creationism. Although in past polling reports, Harris discussed how the results varied by religious affiliation, no such data were provided in 2013.

According to Harris’s longitudinal results, since 2005, believers in “Darwin’s theory of evolution” gained 5% and believers in creationism lost 3% — probably not a significant change. Harris’s report explains that the poll “was conducted online within the United States November 13 and 18, 2013 among 2,250 adults (aged 18 and over). Figures for age, sex, race/ethnicity, education, region and household income were weighted where necessary to bring them into line with their actual proportions in the population. Propensity score weighting was also used to adjust for respondents’ propensity to be online.” “Because the sample is based on those who agreed to participate in the Harris Interactive panel,” the report added, “no estimates of theoretical sampling error can be calculated.”

For the report from Harris, visit:

http://www.harrisinteractive.com/NewsRoom/HarrisPolls/tabid/447/mid/1508/articleId/1353/ctl/ReadCustom%20Default/Default.aspx

And for NCSE’s collection of polls and surveys, visit:

http://ncse.com/creationism/polls-surveys

A FINAL VICTORY IN TEXAS

“[A] special expert panel has given unanimous approval to the Pearson biology textbook whose adoption by the Texas State Board of Education … last month had been tripped up by allegations that it contained ‘factual errors,’” reports the Texas Freedom Network on its TFN Insider blog (December 17, 2013).

As NCSE previously reported, at its November 22, 2013, meeting, the board quarreled about whether to heed a review panel’s criticisms of Kenneth R. Miller and Joseph Levine’s popular biology textbook, published by Pearson, but decided to adopt it, contingent on the outcome of a further review by a panel of three outside experts.  Subsequently, the names of the experts were divulged: Ronald Wetherington, a professor of anthropology at Southern Methodist University and a recipient of NCSE’s Friend of Darwin award; Arturo De Lozanne, a professor of molecular, cell, and developmental biology at the University of Texas, Austin; and Vincent Cassone, a professor of biology at the University of Kentucky (and formerly at Texas A&M University). As NCSE’s Joshua Rosenau commented at the Science League of America blog (December 11, 2013), “it’ll take about 5 minutes for them to dismiss the claims leveled against Pearson’s Biology.”

According to TFN, “A Texas Education Agency (TEA) spokesperson told us that it has forwarded the panel’s report to Pearson. TEA won’t release the report publicly until Pearson has had a chance to review it, but our sources said all three panelists dismissed the claims of factual errors and recommended no changes to the textbook.” Assessing the outcome, TFN contended, “The panel’s approval of the Pearson textbook essentially marks the end of efforts by anti-evolution activists to hijack this year’s science textbook adoption. Throughout the process, they and their board allies—including [the board’s chair Barbara] Cargill—tried to pressure publishers into watering down and distorting the science on evolution and climate change. They failed completely when publishers resisted their pressure while TFN, the National Center for Science Education and other science education advocates rallied support for the textbooks.”

NCSE’s Rosenau commented, “Our goal has always been to protect publishers from political pressure, and to keep the board from politicizing textbooks, so that ‘Texas edition’ would be a mark of quality and not a warning label. With this decision, Texas teachers and students can finally be confident that any Texas edition science textbook reflects good science and a thorough presentation of evolution.”

For TFN’s report, visit:

http://tfninsider.org/2013/12/17/breaking-news-texas-review-panel-rejects-creationist-objections-to-pearson-biology-textbook/

For Rosenau’s blog post, visit:

http://ncse.com/blog/2013/12/texas-creationists-beware-posse-s-comin-0015244

And for NCSE’s previous coverage of events in Texas, visit:

http://ncse.com/news/texas