Exploring anti-science attitudes among political and Christian conservatives through an examination of American universities on Twitter
The purpose of this study was to investigate an unexplored factor as to why some Republicans and conservatives have less trust in science and academia than those on the political left. Twitter accounts for 25 elite American universities were examined for political and religious sentiment and then co...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Taylor & Francis Group
2018-01-01
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| Series: | Cogent Social Sciences |
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| Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/23311886.2018.1462134 |
| Summary: | The purpose of this study was to investigate an unexplored factor as to why some Republicans and conservatives have less trust in science and academia than those on the political left. Twitter accounts for 25 elite American universities were examined for political and religious sentiment and then compared to results from 25 lower ranked schools. The aim was to examine the extent universities post politically liberal or anti-Christian messaging through Twitter. Results suggest elite universities promote more liberal messages than conservative or Republican messages and more liberal messages than lower ranked schools. Overall, the sample of schools made few tweets containing pro-Christianity messaging despite some of the schools having strong connections to Christian denominations or having been founded as religious institutions to train Christian clergy. The findings add additional insight as to why discussions on scientific issues may be influenced by political partisanship. |
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| ISSN: | 2331-1886 |