Introduction

Eventhoughevidencesupportingthehypothesisthathumanactivityisradicallyalteringtheglobal
climateoftheplanetisfoundinnumerousscientificdisciplinesandverifiedbypeerreview,thereare
manywhodonotacceptthescientificconsensus.Manyofthosewhodonotbelievethatglobal
warmingisoccurring,orthatitcausedlargelybyhumanactivity,areChristianswhoholdaliteral
interpretationofthecreationstoryfoundinGenesis,thefirstbookofthebible.Christiansofamore
conservativebentseemmorelikelytorejectscientificclaimsthathumanactivitycontributestoglobal
warming.Theyregardglobalwarmingasahoaxperpetratedbyalarmists.

Thehypothesistobetestedinthisexperimentwas:Individualsholdingaliteral/historical
interpretationofthecreationstoriesintheHebrew/Christianbiblearemorelikelytorejectscientific
claimsconcerninghumancontributiontoglobalwarming.TheIndependentVariableofthistestwas
howliteralormythicaldoestherespondentbelievethecreationstoriestobe?TheDependentvariable
wasHowseriouslydoestherespondentregardtheclaimsabouttheeffectofhumanactivityon
climate.ControlledVariablesinthisexperimentincludethesamesurveygiventoeveryone,fromthe
samewebsite,respondentsweretoconsiderthesamesetofcreationstoriesandthesameobservable
worldaroundus.

MethodsandMaterials

TotestthehypothesisIcreateda6questionsurveyatthewebsitewww.surveymonkey.com.The
questionswere:

1)Onascalefrom1(MythicalPoetic/Unscientific)to10(Historical/Scientific)whatnumberwould
youusetodescribeyourunderstandingofthecreationstory/storiesintheBiblicalbookofGenesis?

2)Onascalefrom1(VeryAccurate)to10(NotAtAllAccurate)howaccuratedoyoubelievescientific
claimsaboutclimatechange/globalwarmingtobe?

3)Onascalefrom1(MainlyScienceOutlets)to10(MainlyReligiousOutlets)whatnumberwouldbest
describeyourmainsourceforinformationregardingclimatechange/globalwarming?

4)Onascalefrom1(MainlyCausedbyHumanActivity)to10(MainlycausedbyNaturalActivity)how
wouldyoudescribethecauseofclimatechange/globalwarming?

5)Onascalefrom1(VeryPossible)to10(NotatAllPossible)whatnumberwoulddescribethepotential
ofhumanactivitytobeasourceofclimatechange?

6)Onascalefrom1(Very)to10(NotAtAll)whatnumberwoulddescribeyourlevelofconcernabout
climatechange/globalwarming?

Alinktothesurveyquestionswassharedonmyblog,onTwitter,andonFacebook.


TheData

Ireceived71responsestothesurveyquestions.However1respondentskippedquestionnumber1
(howdoyouinterpretthecreationstories?)andsincealltheotherquestionsinthissurveyare
evaluatedagainstthisfirstquestion,thatrespondentsanswerswerenotincludedinthefinalresults.

TosimplifythegraphingoftheseresultsIbrokethemdownintothreegroupsalongthegraduatedscale.
ThoseofamoreMythical/Poeticinterpretation(13),thoseofHistorical/Scientificinterpretation(8
10)andthosewhoweresomewhereinbetweenthosetwopoles(47).

Question2:Onascalefrom1(VeryAccurate)to10(NotAtAllAccurate)howaccuratedoyoubelieve
scientificclaimsaboutclimatechange/globalwarmingtobe?

TheresultsherearebothwhatIdidanddidnotexpect.AsIexpected,thosewhoholdtoamore
mythicalorpoeticinterpretationofthecreationstoriestendedtoratescientificclaimsaboutglobal
warmingasVeryaccurate.Iwasalittlesurprisedtoseethattheresponsesofthosewhoholda
historicorscientificunderstandingofthecreationstorieswereratherevenlydistributedacrossthe
spectrum.


Question3:Onascalefrom1(MainlyScienceOutlets)to10(MainlyReligiousOutlets)whatnumber
wouldbestdescribeyourmainsourceforinformationregardingclimatechange/globalwarming?

Hereagain,theresultswerelargelyasIwouldhaveexpectedrespondentstendedtoreportgetting
theirnewsmostlyfromregularnewssourcesratherthanmostlyfromreligioussourcessuchas
AnswersinGenesisortheCreationResearchInstitute.Iwasalittlesurprisedtoseethelarger
numbersreportingthattheygettheirnewsfromscientificjournalsamongthoseholdingamythical
interpretation.

Question4:Onascalefrom1(MainlyCausedbyHumanActivity)to10(MainlycausedbyNatural
Activity)howwouldyoudescribethecauseofclimatechange/globalwarming?

Human / Natural Causes

HeretheresultsweremoreinlinewithwhatIwouldhavepredicted.Thosewhoholdamythical/
poeticinterpretationofthecreationstoriestendtodescribethecausesofglobalwarmingashuman
activity,andthosewhoholdahistorical/scientificunderstandingofthecreationstoriestendedto
describeglobalwarmingastheresultofnaturalcauses.

Question5:Onascalefrom1(VeryPossible)to10(NotatAllPossible)whatnumberwoulddescribethe
potentialofhumanactivitytobeasourceofclimatechange?

Hereagain,Iwassomewhatsurprised.Eventhosewhowoulddescribeglobalwarmingastheresultof
naturalcausestendedtorespondthathumanactivityhasthepotentialtocauseglobalclimatechange.

Question6:Onascalefrom1(Very)to10(NotAtAll)whatnumberwoulddescribeyourlevelofconcern
aboutclimatechange/globalwarming?

Thosewhoratethecreationstoriesasmoremythicalandpoetictendtobeveryconcernedaboutglobal
climatechange.Resultsamongthosewhoratethecreationstoriesashistoricalandscientificaremore
evenlydistributedacrosstherange.

Conclusions
IwassurprisedtoseetheHistorical/Scientificresponsessoevenlydistributedinquestion2(Onascale
from1to10howaccuratedoyoubelievescientificclaimsaboutclimatechange/globalwarmingtobe?)
Iwouldhaveexpectedthemtohavebeenmoreclusteredtowardthenotverysideofthescale.In
evaluatingthedataIbegantowonderifthequestionwasasclearlyphrasedasIthought.Itmaybethat
theresultsareskewedbyapoorlywordedquestionoritmaybethatmypredictionswerewrong.

Imnotconvinced,however,thatmypredictionswerealtogetherwrong.Eveniftheresponsesto
questionnumber2tendedtobemoreevenlydistributedthanIwouldhaveexpected,theresponsesto
theotherquestionswereinlinewithwhatIpredictedthosewhobelievethatthecreationstories
foundinthebiblicalbookofGenesistendtobelievethatglobalwarmingisnottheresultofhuman
activity(eveniftheyacceptthepossibilitythathumanactivityhasthepotentialtocauseit).
Otherpossiblesourcesoferrorinthisexperimentinclude:
Confusionabouttakinganonlinesurvey.
Theremayhavebeensomerespondentswhowereunsurehowtousetheonlinesurveytool.

PoorlyWordedQuestions.
Thismaybeevidentinquestionnumber2

SocialAcceptabilityBias.
RespondentsmayhavegiventheanswersthattheythoughtIwanted,oranswersbasedlesson
theirownthoughtsandmoreonhowtheythinktheyshouldanswer.
InsufficientData.
IdeallyIwouldhavecollectedanequalnumberofresponsesfromthoseholdingmythical/
poeticinterpretationandthosewithahistorical/scientificinterpretationofthebiblicalcreation
stories.SinceIreceivedmanymoreresponsesfromonesideofthespectrumthanfromthe
other,Iamlessconcernedherewiththeactualnumbersthanwiththeshapeofthedata,
lookingatwherethedatawereclustered.Wouldmoredatapointshavechangedtheresults?

IfIweretorepeatthissurveyIwouldreexaminethequestionstomakesurethattheyareasclearand
conciseaspossible.Iwouldalsotrytogetmoreresponsesmoredatamakesforabetteranalysis.