Politics, features and articles | Educational Science

Apr 30, 2006

Cell Phone Users Make Polling More Difficult

Telephone polling has long been a staple of political prognosticating and otherwise sampling the tastes and opinions of Americans on everything from evolution to hybrid vehicles to cell phone use. But there is a growing potential problem pollsters must confront: More than 7 percent of U.S. residents rely entirely on...

Feb 28, 2006

Republicans Happier than Democrats

Overall happiness among U.S. residents has not changed much over the years, according to the latest survey by the Pew Research Center that finds 34 percent of adults are very happy. Among 3,014 telephone respondents, half reported being pretty happy, and 15 percent said they are not too happy. The...

Nov 30, 2007

Huckabee: Question on Teaching Creationism 'Irrelevant'

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP)—Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee, a Southern Baptist preacher who has surged in Iowa with evangelical Christian support, bristled Tuesday when asked if creationism should be taught in public schools. Huckabee—who raised his hand at a debate last May when asked which candidates disbelieved the theory of...

Sep 30, 2007

Voters Make Quick, Shallow Decisions, Study Suggests

Voters can judge a politician's competence in the blink of an eye—or so they think they can, a new study suggests. Previous research hints that voters go for the most competent candidates, but the new analysis reveals people can forge steadfast opinions simply by glancing at a candidate's picture. The...

May 31, 2007

U.S. Patriotism is Flagging

Fewer Americans are showing their colors these days. A new survey finds 62 percent of Americans display the flag at home, in the office, or on their car. That's down from 75 percent in August 2002, a year after the 9/11 attacks. Further, those who say they are very patriotic...

Jan 31, 2007

White House Press Cut Presidents Few Breaks

The White House press corps has cut U.S. presidents few breaks for the past 48 years on the topic of the economy during news conferences, but journalists tend to be creampuffs when it comes to foreign affairs, a new study shows. Statistical analysis of White House transcripts from four randomly...

Nov 30, 2008

History Repeats: How 2008 Reflected the Past

For all the talk about change, everything old seemed oddly new again in 2008. The events of this year, perhaps more than any other, had a way of dredging up historic memories, bad and good — from the ongoing, Depression-like economic scare to the Civil Rights struggles that led to...

Nov 30, 2008

Obama & Celebs Reprimanded for Bad Science

When during a pre-election debate Barack Obama and John McCain both said that an apparent rise in autism cases might be connected to vaccines, those who knew better squirmed at the lack of scientific knowledge of the two remaining presidential candidates on this topic. In fact, studies have found no...

Oct 31, 2008

Past Presidential Elections Far Nastier

The 2008 campaign for president was the most vicious in U.S. history, some pundits have said. There were certainly some cheap-shot moments here and there but, relatively speaking, was the 2008 race really that nasty? Not at all, compared to labels like jackass and hermaphroditical tossed around during presidential elections...

Oct 31, 2008

Martians Would Think John McCain Won

The conservative talk show host Rush Limbaugh, after looking at a map showing county-by-county results, said: If you just landed here from Mars, and you looked at that map, you would swear the Republicans won this thing in a landslide, if you didn't know where the population centers are. Indeed,...

Sep 30, 2008

Palin vs. Biden: How Sex May Change the Debate

If history repeats itself, the vice presidential candidates will pull no punches at Thursday night's debate. But this time there's a woman in the mix, and that could really turn things upside-down. Sarah Palin might take on a more manly, aggressive style while Joe Biden steps into a less combative,...

Sep 30, 2008

Americans Flunk Simple 3-Question Political Survey

Some news audiences are more politically savvy than others, according to a new poll, with readers of The New Yorker and similar high-brow magazines being the most knowledgeable. The survey, conducted between April 30 and June 1 by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press, measured the...

Sep 30, 2008

Studies Find a Candidate's Looks Matter

Voters look for someone who appears both competent and attractive when choosing a president, at least when the candidate is female, finds a new study. If true, the reportedly astronomical fees spent on vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin's appearance could have been right on the money. Campaign managers seem to...

Aug 31, 2008

Political Views Driven by Biology

Fierce individualists, Americans figure that we choose our own political beliefs, but actually it could come down to biology. Individuals who are more easily startled by threats are more likely than others to support protective policies, such as military spending, the Iraq War and the death penalty, finds a new...

Aug 31, 2008

Scientists Predict the Next President

Two mathematicians have devised what they say is a surprisingly effective means to predict the outcome of the U.S. presidential election using median statistics based on voter polling. In a paper in the journal Mathematical and Computer Modeling, Wes Colley, of the University of Alabama, Huntsville, and J. Richard Gott...