Knowledge, science, and religion in the United States: An analysis of factors that contribute to acceptance and rejection of contested knowledge at the intersection of science and religion

High scientific literacy is widely considered a public good. Accurate instruments to assess scientific knowledge in the lay public are equally important. This dissertation expands on sociological understandings of the public understanding of science (PUS), specifically, the interplay between religion and science in the lay public. The first chapter of this dissertation contains a general introduction. The second chapter is a measurement analysis of the NSF-sponsored science knowledge scale, making use of General Social Survey (GSS) data from waves 2006-2010 and NSF Surveys of Public Attitudes data from 1995-2001. This analysis pays special attention to the multidimensionality of the scale using confirmatory factor analysis, and finds that a topic-area dimensional structure (life and physical sciences) represents the structures underlying the NSF scale more accurately than the fact and method dimensions suggested by prior work (Miller 2004). This chapter also identifies a third dimension underlying the NSF scale that is primarily religious in nature, rather than measuring science knowledge. This dimension, termed rejection of scientific orthodoxy (RSO) represents the religiously-motivated rejection of orthodox scientific explanations for the origins and variation of life and the universe. The third chapter explores the relation between RSO and science knowledge across four waves of GSS data (2006-2012), using structural equation models with latent variables techniques. This chapter finds evidence that high levels of the contested knowledge measured by RSO (that is, high levels of rejection of mainstream science explanations for origins) are associated with lower levels of uncontested physical and life sciences knowledge, independent of educational attainment, religious tradition, age, sex, race, and other factors. An additional finding is that relative to unaffiliated respondents, evangelical Protestants and Catholics have an overall lower level of uncontested science knowledge. A fourth chapter examines the persistence of RSO and examines whether there is a downward, upward, or stable trend in individuals' RSO. Additionally, this chapter tests three models representing the relationship between RSO and religious attendance, where: (1) RSO is specified to influence religious attendance, (2) religious attendance is specified to influence RSO, and (3) religious and RSO each has a unique change trajectory over time. A fifth chapter contains general conclusions and suggestions for future research.