Paper for next Irtiqa Friday Journal Club

by Salman Hameed

We will continue the theme of understanding the reception of biological evolution with a recent paper by Heddy and Nadelson: A Global Perspective of the Variables Associated with Acceptance of Evolution published in Evolution: Education and Outreach this past May (Doi: 10.1007/s12052-012-0423-0). If you don't have access to the paper and are interesting in reading it, you can drop me an e-mail and I can send you a pdf copy.

Here is the abstract:

 A Global Perspective of the Variables Associated with Acceptance of Evolution

by Heddy and Nadelson 

The controversy of biological evolution due to conflicts with personal beliefs and worldviews is a phenomenon that spans many cultures. Acceptance of evolution is essential for global advancement in science, technology, and agriculture. Previous research has tended to focus on the factors that can influence acceptance of evolution by culture or country. Our research explored the relationship on an international scale using secondary data analysis to research evolution acceptance for 35 countries. Our results indicate significant relationships between public acceptance of evolution and religiosity, school-life expectancy, science literacy, and gross domestic product per capita. Implications and future directions for research are addressed. 

I will post my comments on the paper on Friday and will be looking forward to your input as well (for comments, please do read the paper or at least skim through it).

Check out past Irtiqa Journal Clubs here.