Hi All
-----Original Message-----From: psci-com: on public engagement with science[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Jennifer GristockSent: 14 November 2006 18:42Subject: [PSCI-COM] are scientists using unscientific data to attackunscientific 'intelligent design'?According to the BBC Press Office, Horizon's Mori poll did not allow peopleto indicate a belief in both Natural Selection and God.The Press Release says:"Participants in the survey were read three statements and asked which bestdescribed their view of the origin and development of life:* the 'evolution theory' says that human kind has developed overmillions of years from less advanced forms of life. God had no part in thisprocess;* the 'creationism theory' says that God created human kind pretty muchin his/her present form at one time within the last 10,000 years;* and the 'intelligent design' theory says that certain features ofliving things are best explained by the intervention of a supernaturalbeing, eg God."Of those surveyed, 48 per cent said evolution theory most closelydescribes their view; 22% chose creationism; and 17% chose intelligentdesign. A further 12% said they did not know."[end of release quote]Is it possible that the 17 per cent who chose the third option knew nothingabout intelligent design as a belief system or theory, but rather, weresimply selecting the only statement that was neither creationism noratheist?I'm a fan of Darwin. Of course I am. But I am a Christian, so I would notchoose option 1.Reflecting on our science communication fundamentals, we might considerthat someone who is not a scientist, nor a science journalist, might nothave heard of the term 'intelligent design' [it is a jargon term, is itnot?] and might well have been tempted to pick this option 3, in an attemptto express a belief that Darwin was right about evolution and the survivalof the fittest, but that God created the universe with these processesoperating within it.If a person wanted to design a poll to generate maximum controversy, asopposed to trying to capture the beliefs of a community, this would be agood example of how to do it.Does the press release accurately reflect the Poll questions? I do not know- i'm not creating a podcast on this subject and I have other work thatrequires my time this week. But if it does, then perhaps the scientists whouse these statistics in should consider the value of more rigorous (social)scientific methods in evidence gathering.Jenny=============================Dr Jenny GristockFellow, Science CommunicationSPRU Science and Technology Policy ResearchThe Freeman CentreUniversity of SussexBrighton BN1 9QE, UKTelephone +44 (0)1273 876711Fax +44 (0)1273 685865www.sussex.ac.uk/spru/profile29408.html=============================**********************************************************************1. To suspend yourself from the list, whilst on leave, for example,send an email to [log in to unmask] with the following message:set psci-com nomail2. To resume email from the list, send the following message:set psci-com mail3. To leave psci-com, send an email to [log in to unmask] with themessage:leave psci-com4. Further information about the psci-com discussion list, including listarchive,can be found at the list web site:5. The psci-com gateway to internet resources on science communication andscienceand society can be found at http://psci-com.ac.uk********************************************************************************************************************************************1. To suspend yourself from the list, whilst on leave, for example,send an email to [log in to unmask] with the following message:set psci-com nomail2. To resume email from the list, send the following message:set psci-com mail3. To leave psci-com, send an email to [log in to unmask] with the message:leave psci-com4. Further information about the psci-com discussion list, including list archive,can be found at the list web site: http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/psci-com.html5. The psci-com gateway to internet resources on science communication and scienceand society can be found at http://psci-com.ac.uk**********************************************************************