GALLUP NEWS SERVICE
PRINCETON, NJ - Although some leaders in the scientific community have expressed stunned dismay at the willingness of both leading presidential contenders, Texas Governor George W. Bush and Vice-President Al Gore, to support the teaching of creationism in public schools, recent Gallup polls confirm that Americans are in favor of that policy by a substantial margin. At the same time, they are divided on how human beings came into existence.
According to a Gallup poll conducted June 25-27 of this year, Americans favor teaching creationism in the public schools, along with evolution, by a margin of 68% to 29%. However, by a margin of 55% to 40%, they would oppose replacing evolution with creationism.
Despite public support for teaching those subjects in public schools, most Americans do not believe them to be crucial to a person's education. According to the most recent Gallup poll, conducted August 24-26, only 28% of Americans say evolution should be a required subject and 49% say it should be an elective. Similarly, 25% say creationism should be required and 56% say it should be an elective. The number who would ban either course from the classroom is 21% for evolution and 16% for creationism. By contrast, 83% of Americans believe that computer training should be a required subject, while 76% would require courses on alcohol and drug abuse prevention, 69% on drivers education, and 60% on sex education -- among other subjects.
Americans' support for teaching both creationism and evolution could reflect their divergent views on how the human species came into existence. According to the most recent Gallup poll, 47% of Americans believe that God created human beings at one time within the last 10,000 years pretty much in their present form, while 49% believe that human beings have developed over millions of years from less advanced forms of life, including 40% who say that God guided the process, and 9% who say that God had no part in the process. This pattern of responses is essentially unchanged from the three previous times it was asked -- first in 1982, and then again in 1993 and 1997.
Views on evolution highly related to age and
education
Older and less educated Americans are more likely to reject
evolution than are the younger and more educated population groups.
American adults under the age of 30, for example, accept either one
of the two evolutionary explanations for the origins of human
beings (either guided by God or not) by a margin of 56% to 42%,
very similar to the pattern of responses in the 30-49 age group
(53% to 44%). However, the 50-64 age group is about evenly divided
on the issue, with 47% who accept evolution and 50% who say God
created human beings about 10,000 years ago. And among Americans 65
and older, only 33% accept evolution, while 60% reject it.
Americans' level of education is also closely related to beliefs about evolution, with only 41% of non-college Americans accepting evolution and 55% rejecting it. Americans with "some" college, by contrast, favor evolution by a 50% to 45% margin, compared with a 58% to 41% margin of support among college graduates, and a 66% to 30% margin of support among those with some post-graduate education.
Survey Methods
The results reported in this article are based on two Gallup polls,
both with telephone interviews of a randomly selected national
sample of about 1,000 adults, 18 years and older. The most recent
poll was conducted August 24-26, 1999, while the other Gallup poll
was conducted June 25-27, 1999. For results based on sample of this
size, one can say with 95 percent confidence that the maximum error
attributable to sampling and other random effects is plus or minus
3 percentage points. In addition to sampling error, question
wording and practical difficulties in conducting surveys can
introduce error or bias into the findings of public opinion
polls.
Next I'm going to read a variety of proposals concerning religion and public schools. For each one, please tell me whether you would generally favor or oppose it. First, ... Next, ...
Teaching creationism ALONG WITH evolution in public schools
| Favor | 68% |
| Oppose | 29 |
| No opinion | 3 |
| 100% |
Teaching creationism INSTEAD OF evolution in public schools
| Favor | 40% |
| Oppose | 55 |
| No opinion | 5 |
| 100% |
Next, I'm going to read you some areas of instruction the high schools might offer. Please say whether you think each one should be required instruction, could be offered as an elective but should not be required, or should not be taught at all. How about…
The theory of evolution
| Required | 28% |
| Offered but not required | 49 |
| Not offered at all | 21 |
| No opinion | 2 |
| 100% |
The theory of creationism
| Required | 25% |
| Offered but not required | 56 |
| Not offered at all | 16 |
| No opinion | 3 |
| 100% |
Which of the following statements comes closest to your views on the origin and development of human beings --
| 99 Aug | 97 Nov | 93 Jun | 1982 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Human beings have developed over millions of years from less advanced forms of life, but God guided this process. | 40% | 39% | 35% | 38% |
| Human beings have developed over millions of years from lessadvanced forms of life. God had no part in this process. | 9 | 10 | 11 | 9 |
| God created human beings pretty much in their present form at one time within the last 10,000 years or so. | 47 | 44 | 47 | 44 |
| No opinion | 4 | 7 | 7 | 9 |
| 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% |
