Science vs. religion : what scientists really think - File PDF

158APPENDIX AUniversity of North Carolina, Chapel HillUniversity of Washington, SeattleUniversity of Wisconsin, MadisonUniversity of Southern CaliforniaWashington UniversityYale UniversityWhen looking at this list, it is clear that there is not significant geographicdiversity in the population of universities where I studied scientists. By surveyingand interviewing scientists at Ivy League and top research universities weare missing many universities in the American South and the “fly-over” statesin the middle of the country, places that are highly religious and that formimportant voting blocks when it comes to issues concerning science. Theirpredominant location in the Northeast and on the West Coast may also explainwhy some scientists underestimate the strength of religion in the UnitedStates.In this understudied topic, an examination of scientists at elite institutionswas initiated because elites are more likely to have an impact on the pursuit ofknowledge in American society. As sociologist Randall Collins persuasivelyargues, top scholars are a kind of elite who contribute to knowledge creation inthe broader society. If scientists at elite universities are at the forefront of thenewest ideas in our society, studying their views broadens our understandingof the academy and the way it affects other major institutions in this country. 3There is no research to date that examines the attitudes toward religion andspirituality (using comprehensive indicators of religion and spirituality) amongnatural and social scientists who teach and do research at top U.S. researchuniversities and that uses both survey and qualitative interview data. Even so,I benefit from two major studies on topics closely related to this one. Mostrecently, sociologists Neil Gross and Solon Simmons did a 2006 survey on thepolitical and religious views of American faculty at different types of universitiesand colleges, also replicating questions from the General Social Survey. Mywork is different from theirs in that I focus specifically on natural and socialscientists, and particularly those who work at elite research universities. Further,the RAAS study involves a broader survey of religiosity among this populationof scientists. Their survey provides an important comparison, showingthat at less elite institutions, social scientists are less religious than natural scientists,a finding that is not upheld at the kind of elite universities I studied. 4I have also benefited from the work of historian Edward Larson and journalistLarry Witham.5In 1996, they replicated psychologist James Leuba’s exact earlytwentieth-century questions about belief in a personal god, belief in human