Religion survey
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Religion survey
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unskinnybob
Expert Member
Wasn't aware that France could drop any lower 
The sample group is about 1000 people per country which is far too small to be indicative of anything in my opinion. Especially when you're talking about as diverse a country as ours. I wouldn't read all that much into these results - the fact that they show double digit changes across the board indicates that either the world underwent some radical process (which didn't happen) or there is a problem with their dataset. I'm going with the latter...
Lycanthrope
Honorary Master
I'm afraid I don't buy it.
"Not religious" doesn't mean "not superstitious."
Also, where do they get these statistics from? What's the demographic of their sample?
South Africa is a very religious/superstitious nation and I'm afraid that as long as 25% of it remains unemployed and far more of it remains uneducated, unskilled and impoverished, I think it will remain that way for a long while yet.
"Not religious" doesn't mean "not superstitious."
Also, where do they get these statistics from? What's the demographic of their sample?
South Africa is a very religious/superstitious nation and I'm afraid that as long as 25% of it remains unemployed and far more of it remains uneducated, unskilled and impoverished, I think it will remain that way for a long while yet.
Ekstasis
Honorary Master
I agree.
This brings up the question of statistics in general - At what point can one assume that the sample group tested are going to be a close enough indication of the total population's status?
Ekstasis
Honorary Master
Are you trying to say that educated people cannot be religious?
Lycanthrope
Honorary Master
I think this is where using statistics gleamed from the national census would be a great asset.
I am saying that educated people are far less likely to be religious and, certainly, far less likely to be fanatically so.
This doesn't bring up the ethics of stats, it brings up the ethics of groups behind stats, which is why you should always do a little bit of homework into them...
That's not what Lycan said at all. How did you get there? :wtf:
Ekstasis
Honorary Master
Lycanthrope
Honorary Master
Educated people cannot be religious ≠ Educated people less likely to be religious.
Ekstasis
Honorary Master
covered yurself well there L
No, he didn't say that educated people cannot be religious. He said that there is a correlation between education and religiosity, for which there exists plenty of positive research. That doesn't rule out educated people being religious - it just makes it less likely. Surely this is simple comprehension?
DrJohnZoidberg
Honorary Master
I also don't think it's an accurate stat. I would think that that religiosity belief is on a downward curve in SA but I think that number is a bit on the high side.
Covered? No Ekstasis, that is basic comprehension...
Ekstasis
Honorary Master
Two people equally educated - one religious the other not. The likelihood is based on the conclusion a person come to based on the information he/she receives. Not sure how research can come up with this notion of education level having a direct influence on a persons religious/non-religious state.
Let's once again take ToE as example. Two people oaf equal intelligence receive the information - one accepts the other shouts BS.
I think you need to read up on how stats work. Correlation, causation etc. I'm actually not sure how you can come to the conclusion that through statistics, we cannot identify correlation and causation relationships...
Ekstasis
Honorary Master
You take 10000 religious people & 10000 non-religious folk
68% of the religious ppl prefer golden delicious apples
5% of the non-religious ppl like golden delicious apples
Do you come to the conclusion that non-religious folk are less likely to eat golden delicious apples?
68% of the religious ppl prefer golden delicious apples
5% of the non-religious ppl like golden delicious apples
Do you come to the conclusion that non-religious folk are less likely to eat golden delicious apples?
Well here you are simply showing that you have no idea what correlation and causation are, and how they are researched using statistics. No statistical survey worth its salt would ever simply ask those questions - they would define the scope of questions to cover motives as well, to address the causation aspect. Which is why you will find that decent research based on stats goes far deeper than simply asking for correlation - read here - http://psychcentral.com/news/2011/08/09/education-and-religion-may-not-be-at-odds/28465.html
So you can see that they are defining the scope to determine causation as well. So while it appears on the surface that a high education results in less religiosity, there is far more to this than meets the eye. The other problem here though is that the stats are based on Americans alone, who we know based on worldwide stats are more prone to believe in the supernatural. So this data cannot simply be extrapolated to the rest of the world. In other words, their research is incomplete, but does show a correlation between education and religiosity that should be studied further.
You're arguing from a point of correlation alone, as if mathematicians, economists and statisticians aren't already fully aware of these pitfalls in the first place. I can assure you, they are, and take this into account in real research...