Podcast Special: Pew Research Center

The Pew Research Center is a fact tank which focuses on issues, attitudes and trends shaping the world. For example, they study U.S. politics and policy; journalism and media; internet, science and technology; religion and public life; global attitudes and trends and U.S. social and demographic trends. To carry out such research, the team at Pew Research conduct public opinion polling, demographic research, content analysis and other data-driven social science research. You can read more about Pew Research Center on their website.

In this episode, recorded in late 2020, we speak to Dr’s Cary Funk and Courtney Johnson. Cary is the Director of Science and Society research at Pew, where she leads the Center’s efforts to understand the implications of science for society.  She has authored and co-authored a number of reports focused on public trust in science, scientific experts and science news and information. Courtney is a Research Associate at Pew. Her work focuses on the interrelation between science and society.

Cary and Courtney discuss some of the research conducted into public perceptions of the relationship between science and religion, and in particular, on beliefs about evolution. Focusing on the methodological approach taken at Pew, our guests reflect on the importance of survey design and discuss how the way in which questions are asked can impact upon the data generated.

You can listen to the podcast here:

This podcast is 51 minutes and 56 seconds

To learn more about the issues discussed, we recommend that you read:

https://www.pewforum.org/2017/05/10/science-and-religion/
https://www.pewresearch.org/science/2015/10/22/science-and-religion/
https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2015/10/22/5-facts-about-the-interplay-between-religion-and-science/