Scientists and Scientific Thinking:
Understanding Scientific Thinking
Through an Investigation of
Scientists Views About
Superstitions and Religious Beliefs

Richard K. Coll; Mark C. Lay; Neil Taylor

doi:10.12973/ejmste/75342

Scientists and Scientific Thinking: Understanding Scientific Thinking Through an Investigation of Scientists Views About Superstitions and Religious Beliefs

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Richard K. Coll ¹ ^* , Mark C. Lay ¹, Neil Taylor ²

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¹ University of Waikato, Hamilton, NEW ZEALAND² University of New England, Armidale, AUSTRALIA^* Corresponding Author

Abstract

Scientific literacy is explored in this paper which describes two studies that seek to understand a particular feature of the nature of science; namely scientists’ habits of mind. The research investigated scientists’ views of scientific evidence and how scientists judge evidence claims. The first study is concerned with scientists’ views of what constitutes superstitious beliefs. The second concerned potential conflicts between scientific theories and evidence, and religious beliefs. The research findings suggest that these scientists, unlike their stereotype, hold idiosyncratic views of what constitutes good scientific evidence and sound, credible testimony. The interviews provide a window into scientific thinking as practiced by modern scientists, and suggest that the scientists are rather more open to alternative thinking than might be supposed. The implications of these findings are discussed in the context of their implications for scientific literacy.

Keywords

literacy
religion
science
sociocultural
superstition

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This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Article Type: Research Article

EURASIA J Math Sci Tech Ed, 2008, Volume 4, Issue 3, 197-214

https://doi.org/10.12973/ejmste/75342

Publication date: 22 Oct 2008

Article Views: 2891

Article Downloads: 2841

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How to cite this article

APA

Coll, R. K., Lay, M. C., & Taylor, N. (2008). Scientists and Scientific Thinking: Understanding Scientific Thinking Through an Investigation of Scientists Views About Superstitions and Religious Beliefs. Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, 4(3), 197-214. https://doi.org/10.12973/ejmste/75342

Vancouver

Coll RK, Lay MC, Taylor N. Scientists and Scientific Thinking: Understanding Scientific Thinking Through an Investigation of Scientists Views About Superstitions and Religious Beliefs. EURASIA J Math Sci Tech Ed. 2008;4(3):197-214. https://doi.org/10.12973/ejmste/75342

AMA

Coll RK, Lay MC, Taylor N. Scientists and Scientific Thinking: Understanding Scientific Thinking Through an Investigation of Scientists Views About Superstitions and Religious Beliefs. EURASIA J Math Sci Tech Ed. 2008;4(3), 197-214. https://doi.org/10.12973/ejmste/75342

Chicago

Coll, Richard K., Mark C. Lay, and Neil Taylor. "Scientists and Scientific Thinking: Understanding Scientific Thinking Through an Investigation of Scientists Views About Superstitions and Religious Beliefs". Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education 2008 4 no. 3 (2008): 197-214. https://doi.org/10.12973/ejmste/75342

Harvard

Coll, R. K., Lay, M. C., and Taylor, N. (2008). Scientists and Scientific Thinking: Understanding Scientific Thinking Through an Investigation of Scientists Views About Superstitions and Religious Beliefs. Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, 4(3), pp. 197-214. https://doi.org/10.12973/ejmste/75342

MLA

Coll, Richard K. et al. "Scientists and Scientific Thinking: Understanding Scientific Thinking Through an Investigation of Scientists Views About Superstitions and Religious Beliefs". Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, vol. 4, no. 3, 2008, pp. 197-214. https://doi.org/10.12973/ejmste/75342