Public Understanding
of Science
http://pus.sagepub.com/
Relationship between scientific knowledge and fortune-telling
Paichi Pat Shein, Yuh-Yuh Li and Tai-Chu Huang
Public Understanding of Science 2014 23: 780 originally published online 4 March 2014
DOI: 10.1177/0963662514522169
The online version of this article can be found at:
http://pus.sagepub.com/content/23/7/780
Published by:
http://www.sagepublications.com
Additional services and information for Public Understanding of Science can be found at:
Email Alerts: http://pus.sagepub.com/cgi/alerts
Subscriptions: http://pus.sagepub.com/subscriptions
Reprints: http://www.sagepub.com/journalsReprints.nav
Permissions: http://www.sagepub.com/journalsPermissions.nav
Citations: http://pus.sagepub.com/content/23/7/780.refs.html
>> Version of Record - Oct 6, 2014
OnlineFirst Version of Record - Mar 4, 2014
What is This?
Downloaded from pus.sagepub.com by Rick Borchelt on October 6, 2014
522169
research-article2014
PUS0010.1177/0963662514522169Public Understanding of ScienceShein et al.
P U S
Article
Relationship between scientific
knowledge and fortune-telling
Public Understanding of Science
2014, Vol. 23(7) 780­–796
© The Author(s) 2014
Reprints and permissions:
sagepub.co.uk/journalsPermissions.nav
DOI: 10.1177/0963662514522169
pus.sagepub.com
Paichi Pat Shein, Yuh-Yuh Li and Tai-Chu Huang
National Sun Yat-sen University, Taiwan
Abstract
This study takes on a relational and situated perspective to understand the relationship between scientific
knowledge and fortune-telling. Measures included socio-demographic characteristics, knowledge of scientific
facts and methods, and fortune-telling beliefs and practices. A sample of 1863 adults was drawn from a
population of Taiwanese citizens using the method of probability proportional to size. The findings showed that
knowledge of scientific methods was negatively associated with fortune-telling beliefs. However, knowledge
of scientific facts was, by and large, positively associated with engagement in fortune-telling practices, a
phenomenon known as cognitive polyphasia. This study does not imply that science communication or
education have no effect on promoting scientific knowledge; rather, it hopes to encourage researchers and
practitioners to use a culturally sensitive lens to rethink the role of science in society and its relationship
with other forms of knowledge and belief.
Keywords
public understanding of science, representations of science, science and popular culture, scientific literacy,
social representations
1. Introduction
People are faced with needs, issues, and challenges on a daily basis. To address and overcome
them, people draw on what they know and sometimes seek the advice of others who know more.
Needless to say, knowledge plays a vital role in a person’s daily function of life, guiding one’s decisions and practices. Because knowledge is a socially-constructed entity, it is important to situate
“knowledge in context” (Jovchelovitch, 2007) as some knowledge may work for one circumstance,
but not the other. For example, fishermen may study the engineering and technology of ships to
decide upon their purchase, but may rely on fortune-telling methods or religious rituals to determine a sailing time that promises safe and prosperous prospects. Moreover, some knowledge systems may complement each other, and some may be contradictory. Continuing with the previous
example, fishermen may obtain advice from a weather forecast or meteorology to proceed with
Corresponding author:
Tai-Chu Huang, National Sun Yat-sen University, 70 Lienhai Road, Kaohsiung, 804, Taiwan.
Email: [email protected]
Downloaded from pus.sagepub.com by Rick Borchelt on October 6, 2014
781
Shein et al.
their fishing activities, but the outcome of the divination method performed in a traditional ritual
may advise otherwise. Knowledge that has not been scientifically proven or has been claimed as
unscientific, parascientific or pseudoscientific has been relegated as a lesser kind of knowledge
that needs to be questioned or even dismissed. Measures, such as formal education, have been
taken to eradicate ideas and methods related to this kind of knowledge.
This paper addresses the issue of diversity in the dismantling of the socially-constructed demarcation of rational from irrational knowledge, or more specifically for this paper, science from
“pseudoscience” (Bauer and Durant, 1997), to begin to see the reality that different forms of
knowledge exist in an individual and are used to fulfill different needs, overcome different obstacles, and achieve different goals, which is a perspective called cognitive polyphasia (Jovchelovitch,
2007, 2008). In this paper, the word “knowledge” is used to describe what people know about science, or the social representations of science, in the modern world today. The word “belief” is used
to describe what people know about fortune-telling, a kind of representation that is transmitted
through cultural practices (Jovchelovitch, 2007: 107). Fortune-telling, although identified by many
as “pseudoscientific,” has been practiced by people in Taiwan for decades, even by those who are
educated (Chiu, 2006) and young (Tsai et al., 2011). Thus, rather than viewing “pseudoscience” in
opposition to science (Chin, 2007; Lilienfeld et al., 2001), this paper aims to understand the relationship between these traditional beliefs and practices of fortune-telling and scientific knowledge.
It is this relational and situated perspective of knowledge that allows for a sensible and productive
dialogue among scientists, science communicators, and lay people. Hence, one overarching question guides this study: How does scientific knowledge relate to fortune-telling beliefs and practices
in Taiwan? In particular, three research questions emerged: 1) How does scientific knowledge
relate to fortune-telling beliefs? 2) How does scientific knowledge relate to the variety of fortunetelling practices in which people engage? 3) How does scientific knowledge relate to four major
kinds of fortune-telling practices commonly found in Taiwan? Consequently, six regression models were constructed to answer these questions.
2. Scientific knowledge, fortune-telling, and their relationship
Scientific knowledge
Within the field of public survey research on scientific literacy or public understanding of science,
the definition of scientific knowledge has two basic dimensions: facts and methods (Durant et al.,
1989, 1992; Evans and Durant, 1995; Miller, 1983, 1987, 1995, 1998). First, knowledge of scientific facts is measured by a repertoire of true–false statements such as “electrons are smaller than
atoms” and “antibiotics kill viruses as well as bacteria.” Similar items can be found in surveys
conducted in China (CRISP, 2008), Europe (European Commission, 2001, 2005), India (NCAER,
2004; Shukla, 2005), Japan (NISTEP, 2002), South Korea (KOFAC, 2009), Malaysia (MASTIC,
2010), Russia (Gokhberg and Shuvalova, 2004), and the U.S. (National Science Board, 2002,
2006, 2008, 2010, 2012). Bauer et al. (2007) suggested that these factual knowledge items should
be analyzed in combination to have significance. Second, scientific method questions are constructed to investigate the understanding of the process of scientific inquiry. In the U.S, a combination of an open-ended question and two close-ended questions was constructed for this line of
investigation (Miller, 1983, 1987, 1995; National Science Board, 2002, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2012).
These questions were also used in China (CRISP, 2008) and Europe (European Commission, 1992,
2001). For the open-ended question, respondents were asked whether they have a clear understanding, a general sense, or not much understanding of what it means to study something scientifically.
Those who responded that they had a clear understanding or a general sense of it were then asked
Downloaded from pus.sagepub.com by Rick Borchelt on October 6, 2014
782
Public Understanding of Science 23(7)
to describe their understanding in their own words. One close-ended question was developed after
a common response from the open-ended question that a scientific study involved “an experiment”
(Miller and Pifer, 1995). Another close-ended question assessed respondents’ understanding of
probability.
Fortune-telling
Fortune-telling is prevalent in modern Taiwanese society with its roots tracing back to the ancient
Chinese reign of the Tang and Song dynasties over a thousand years ago. It plays a vital role in
traditional folk activities. Its foundations draw from knowledge systems of ancient astronomy,
calendar calculation, geology, traditional Chinese medicine, and the notion of destiny. The long
interaction between fortune-telling and Taiwanese tradition makes the two inseparable. Fortunetelling has come to shape one’s belief system at the personal level and define cultural ideology at
the societal level.
Within the past 25 years in Taiwan, the media has been rapidly popularized with increased numbers of television channels and loosened control of broadcast content. Content related to fortunetelling can be found in various forms of mass communication such as books, newspapers, radio,
and television. Mass media as a major catalyst in the propagation of “pseudoscientific” beliefs
(Lilienfeld et al., 2001; Losh, 2011; Preece and Baxter, 2000; Sparks and Miller, 2001; Tsai et al.,
2011) facilitated the popularization of fortune-telling beliefs and practices. With the blooming of
the internet in the mid-1990s, fortune-telling became even more pervasive through the use of webbased tools, such as Google (Baram-Tsabari and Segev, 2011).
A part of the Taiwan Social Change Survey, a nation-wide longitudinal survey conducted every
five years since 1985, has investigated the beliefs and practices of fortune-telling. The data showed
a fairly consistent pattern of about a third of the people having sought fortune-telling services for
the past 27 years of survey research (Chiu, 2006; Fu and Tu, 2010), and about a third of the people
believing that fortune-telling is accurate or predictive of the future (Chang, 2000). In analyzing the
data from 1985 to 1995, Chiu (2006) found that education increased the likelihood of the use of
fortune-telling services and suggested that “the kind of rationality cultivated by modern education,
which generally tended to counter [fortune-telling], might fall short in countering deep, profound
methods of fortune-telling.” Fortune-telling beliefs and practices have an ancient origin and are
deeply engrained in Taiwanese people’s consciousness and daily operation of life, so much that
people with more education are not able to forgo these ancient ideas and are instead appealing more
to them because more education tends to open more social opportunities and thus a higher degree
of uncertainty (Chiu, 2006; Giddens, 1991). Chiu (1993) has explained that a strong tendency to
find fortune-telling appealing is connected to a sense of uncertainty. When people are situated in
more uncertain conditions, they are more likely to practice fortune-telling because traditional rituals of religion or superstition seem to ease insecurities or apprehension caused by the uncertain
future (Emmons and Paloutzian, 2003; Gorsuch, 1988). In a study on online fortune-telling behavior in Taiwan, Kuo (2005) found that the two major topics discussed in fortune-telling were relationships and careers, with some gender differences. Males were more concerned about careers and
females more concerned about relationships.
To study the relationship between scientific knowledge and fortune-telling, it is important to
consider possible socio-demographic variables that may confound the relationship. To decide what
socio-demographic variables to control in the models so that such a relationship can be accurately
depicted, various studies that were conducted in relation to “pseudoscience” in general and fortunetelling in particular were referenced. The following socio-demographic variables were included in
the modeling for this study: age (Allum and Stoneman, 2012; Chiu, 2006; Lindeman and Aarnio,
Downloaded from pus.sagepub.com by Rick Borchelt on October 6, 2014
783
Shein et al.
2006; Tsai et al., 2011), gender (Allum and Stoneman, 2012; Chiu, 2006; Johnson and Pigliucci,
2004; Lindeman and Aarnio, 2006; Preece and Baxter, 2000; Shermer, 2002; Tsai et al., 2011), education (Afonso and Gilbert, 2010; Allum and Stoneman, 2012; Allum et al., 2008; Chiu, 2006;
Goode, 2002; Losh and Nzekwe, 2011; Miller, 2004; Sparks and Miller, 2001; Walker et al., 2002),
religion (Allum and Stoneman, 2012), proximity to city (Allum and Stoneman, 2012), socio-economic status (Allum and Stoneman, 2012; Chiu, 2006; Kuo, 2005), and marital status (Kuo, 2005).
Fortune-telling includes a myriad of theories and methods. This paper focuses on four main
categories of fortune-telling. The “fate” practice includes four pillars of destiny and Chinese astrology, zi-wei-dou-shu, which uses one’s birthday to predict one’s fortune. The “expression” practice
uses physical features such as face, palms, and bone structure, composition of Chinese characters
and Chinese names, and Feng Shui to determine personality, character, and destiny. The “western”
practice constitutes fortune-telling ideas or methods that have their origin in western society, such
as astrology and tarot cards. The “divination” practice encompasses all kinds of rituals that involve
reading signs or omens through various media.
Relationship between science knowledge and fortune-telling
Science has been claimed as the foundation of social development, whereas some forms of traditional knowledge have been viewed as unscientific and at times obstacles to social development
(Agrawal, 1995). This dichotomous view gives rise to a hierarchical arrangement of scientific
knowledge as a more refined, advanced, and realistic form of knowledge. Such a paradigm places
tensions between traditional and scientific knowledge, positions them as oppositional and promotes the singular existence of one or the other, which is in most cases scientific knowledge. Thus,
many research studies that study traditional knowledge take on this hierarchical framework, naming it “pseudoscience” and positioning science as a reducing or eliminating agent of it. Some
empirical studies have shown that when students are given more science education, their pseudoscientific knowledge decreases (Martin, 1994; Martin-Hansen, 2008; McLean and Miller, 2010). A
recent study by Turgut (2011) found that an intervention in a teacher education course that was
based on the demarcation of science from pseudoscience, particularly in the case of astrology, was
effective in promoting the understanding of the nature of science.
However, about three decades ago, a theory proposed by Michael Polanyi (1983) was used to
challenge the oppositional positioning of science knowledge and traditional belief. Polanyi
regarded traditional belief as a form of “tacit knowledge” that is a part of people’s consciousness
but does not emerge on to the surface owing to the public climate of the dominant ideology (Freire,
1970). In simpler words, we know more than we can show or want to show (Polanyi, 1983: 4).
Polanyi further argued that tacit knowledge is important because it constructs individuals’ comprehensive identities and their understanding of the world. Although not explicitly perceived, fortunetelling as a form of tacit knowledge may have important functions in terms of guiding Taiwanese
people in their everyday practices. Furthermore, tacit knowledge could potentially lead to major
breakthroughs (Wellman, 2009), such as scientific discoveries and technological inventions.
Moreover, Giddens (1991) argued that the increase in knowledge in modern society
increases the difficulty of self-identity or decision-making, which could explain why younger
(Tsai et al., 2011) and higher educated (Chiu, 2006) people also practice fortune-telling.
Giddens (1991) explained that in a traditional society, with settled social roles and established
decision-making patterns, there is little room for change and thus less risk involved in living.
However, in a modern society, with a more complex and diverse social world, chances and
risks are consequently higher, which gives rise to people’s desire to intervene and control their
Downloaded from pus.sagepub.com by Rick Borchelt on October 6, 2014
784
Public Understanding of Science 23(7)
life, especially at the juncture of “fateful moments,” times “when individuals are called on to
take decisions that are particularly consequential for their […] future lives” (Giddens, 1991:
112). Subsequently, the methods of assessment and intervention people use to shape their
identity, fortune, or life may be drawn from multiple knowledge systems, and vary from culture to culture.
The present study attempts to take on a relational and situated perspective, without any preconceived positionality of different forms of knowledge, in order to understand the relationship
between scientific knowledge and traditional knowledge, in the specific case of fortune-telling. In
this line of inquiry, the U.S. Science and Engineering Indicators has found that people with higher
education or more factual knowledge in science were less likely to perceive astrology to be scientific (National Science Board, 2012). Allum and Stoneman (2012) also found that the more scientifically knowledgeable people are, the less they believe that astrology is scientific. On the other
hand, Johnson and Pigliucci (2004) found negative but weak correlations between pseudoscientific
beliefs and knowledge of scientific facts and concepts. However, more studies in other cultural
contexts are required to gain an in-depth and comprehensive picture. The present study used items
that were relevant to the local context of Taiwan. Fortune-telling was selected because it has a
long-standing tradition in the culture of Taiwan. Furthermore, our study has constructed measures
that are different from and new to the public survey research on scientific literacy. Rather than asking the citizens whether they perceive “fortune-telling as scientific,” which already assumes a
dichotomous view, we used a more open question that asked whether they believe the predicative
nature of fortune-telling, as unbiased and empirical evidence of their fortune-telling beliefs. To
probe further, we asked about their actual engagement in fortune-telling practices to paint a more
comprehensive picture of their fortune-telling beliefs.
3. Measures
The measures used for this study stemmed from a larger survey that investigated Taiwan’s civic
scientific literacy in 2012. Three types of measures were used: 1) socio-demographic characteristics, 2) scientific knowledge, and 3) fortune-telling beliefs and practices. The first two were the
independent variables, and the last was the dependent variable. The descriptive statistics of the
variables used in this study are summarized in Appendix 1 (Appendices can be found online at pus.
sagepub.com). The correlations between the scientific knowledge variables and the fortune-telling
variables are provided in Table 1.
Table 1. Correlations for variables related to scientific knowledge and fortune-telling (FT).
Scientific Scientific FT beliefs Variety of FT Fate practice Expression Western
facts
methods
practices
practice
practice
Scientific methods
.446**
FT beliefs
–.017
Variety of FT practices .182**
Fate practice
.129**
Expression practice
.136**
Western practice
.174**
Divination practice
.021
–.032
.148**
.096**
.114**
.101**
.040
.279**
.168**
.217**
.234**
.084**
.579**
.709**
.500**
.412**
.331**
.104**
.129**
**p < .01.
Downloaded from pus.sagepub.com by Rick Borchelt on October 6, 2014
.247**
.165**
.125**
785
Shein et al.
Socio-demographic characteristics
The socio-demographic characteristics included age, gender, educational level, religion, proximity
to city, income, marital status, and interaction between marital status and gender. Four age groups
were defined as 18–29, 30–39, 40–49, and 50–65 years old. Male was defined as 0 and female was
defined as 1. Three education levels were defined as primary, secondary and tertiary. “Primary”
included illiterate, home-schooled, self-learned, and elementary school. “Secondary” included junior high school, high school, and vocational school. “Tertiary” included junior college, university,
Master’s, and doctorate levels. Two types of religion were determined based on respondents’
responses to the seven choices of religious beliefs. “Old” religion included Buddhism, Taoism, folk
beliefs,1 and I-Kuan Tao which have a longer history in Taiwan compared to the next category of
“new” religion which included Islam, Catholicism, and Christianity. Those who responded that
they had no religious beliefs were categorized as “no religion.” Proximity to city was measured
based on the respondents’ self-reported area of residence, from farm, rural, township, suburban, to
urban areas, in an order of increasing proximity to the city. Income was divided into “low,” “middle,” and “high,” which constituted about 0–20%, 20–80%, and 80–100%, respectively, of the
income distribution garnered from the responses. Marital status included “single” and “married.”
“Single” includes not married, divorced, widowed, and married but separated.
Scientific knowledge
Scientific knowledge is measured with two variables: facts and methods. Knowledge of scientific
facts was measured by 15 true–false statements (Appendix 3, Question 1). Similar items could be
found in surveys conducted in China (CRISP, 2008), Europe (European Commission, 2001, 2005),
India (NCAER, 2004; Shukla, 2005), Japan (NISTEP, 2002), South Korea (KOFAC, 2009),
Malaysia (MASTIC, 2010), Russia (Gokhberg and Shuvalova, 2004), and the U.S. (National
Science Board, 2002, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2012). Related methodological and conceptual issues have
been discussed by various researchers (Allum et al., 2008; Durant et al., 1989; Miller, 1983, 1998;
Pardo and Calvo, 2004). To detect the quality of the questionnaire, Cronbach’s alpha and factor
analysis were performed to test reliability and validity. After the deletion of the items with factor
loadings that are below .45, ten items were used to measure knowledge of scientific facts. These
factual knowledge items were analyzed in combination with an outcome of an acceptable
Cronbach’s alpha coefficient of 0.71. A score of 1 was given when each statement was defined correctly, thus, respondents could receive a score of 0 to 10.
Knowledge of scientific methods was measured by one close-ended question that had four items
in total. Similar items can be found in surveys conducted in China (CRISP, 2008), Europe (European
Commission, 1992, 2001), and the U.S. (National Science Board, 2002, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2012).
Methodological and conceptual issues have also been raised in research (Durant et al., 1989; Miller,
1983, 1998). Here the question was related to the probability of inherited disease (Appendix 3,
Question 2). Respondents were asked to rate the correctness of the four given statements on a fourpoint Likert scale of “correct,” “incorrect,” “not sure,” to “I don’t know.” A score of 1 was given
when each statement was defined correctly, thus, respondents could receive a score of 0 to 4. The
four items included in the construct of scientific methods demonstrated (the factor loadings were
from .50 to .86) an acceptable Cronbach’s alpha coefficient of 0.76.
Fortune-telling beliefs
The variable of “fortune-telling beliefs” is a construct measured by three items with some modifications from the 2001 U.S. Survey of Public Attitudes Toward and Understanding of Science and
Downloaded from pus.sagepub.com by Rick Borchelt on October 6, 2014
786
Public Understanding of Science 23(7)
Technology (National Science Board, 2002) with additional items on fortune-telling and divination
related to the Taiwanese context. The respondents were asked how much they believe in these three
statements: “horoscope analyses can predict the future,” “divination and fortune-telling can predict
the future,” and “some numbers are especially lucky for some people,” measured on a four-point
Likert scale of “don’t believe it at all,” “don’t believe it,” “believe it,” and “believe it very much,”
coded 0, 1, 2, and 3, respectively (Appendix 3, Question 3). Therefore, scores on the measure could
range from 0 to 9. The Cronbach’s alpha coefficient for this construct was 0.76, demonstrating
acceptable item reliability. Note that the phrasing of the first item was different than that found in
the U.S. survey. Instead of using a dichotomous framework to ask if horoscope analyses were scientific, the present survey asked respondents if they believe horoscope analyses can predict the
future, without any preconceived positioning. Such phrasing is adopted from the Taiwan Social
Change Survey, a nation-wide longitudinal survey that has some items dedicated to fortune-telling
(Chiu, 2006).
Fortune-telling practices
A follow-up question was designed to get at the behavioral manifestation of people’s “tacit knowledge” (Polanyi, 1983), to be analyzed in juxtaposition with what people say about the fortunetelling beliefs as stated in the previous paragraph. The question asked, “Which of the following
fortune-telling methods have you used?” and provided 13 fortune-telling practices2 of which the
respondent could select as many as applicable (Appendix 3, Question 4). The different practices
were adopted from the Taiwan Social Change Survey (Chiu, 2006). This question was analyzed in
two ways. First, it was used to determine the variety of fortune-telling practices in which an individual engaged. One could engage in 0 to 13 methods of fortune-telling. Second, the question was
used to formulate four categories of fortune-telling. The fortune-telling methods were classified
into four categories and variables of “fate,” “expression,” “western,” and “divination.” “Fate”
included two methods: four pillars of destiny3 and Chinese astrology.4 “Expression” included five
methods: palm reading, face reading, glyphomancy,5 Feng Shui,6 and anthroponymy.7 “Western”
included two methods of western origins, western astrology and tarot cards. “Divination” included
one general method of divination. If respondents checked at least one method in each category, a
score of 1 was given.
4. Methods
Sample
The sample of data draws from a population of Taiwanese citizens aged between 18 and 65 years
based on the 2012 household registration data. The sampling method of probability proportional to
size (PPS) was used, which constitutes the methods of stratified sampling and systematic sampling,
to ensure that the sampled data are proportional to the size of the general population. The sampling
process underwent three stages, as seen in Appendix 2. In Phase 1, Taiwan’s 358 towns were clustered into six subpopulations based on six demographic indices: 1) population density, 2) commercial employment, 3) industrial employment, 4) age of 15–64, 5) age of 65 and over, and 6) education
of college and higher (Hung, 1992). Consequently, these six subpopulations represent different
areas of residence: 1) metropolitan area, 2) industrial/commercial urban area, 3) newly developed
area, 4) traditional industrial area, 5) under-developed area, and 6) remote and rural area. Within
each subpopulation, equidistance sampling was used to systematically select a certain number of
towns according to the size of the population. In Phase 2, two villages were selected in each town.
In Phase 3, a certain number of citizens in each village were then further selected. To ensure that
Downloaded from pus.sagepub.com by Rick Borchelt on October 6, 2014
787
Shein et al.
these numbers of samples were collected, the sample sizes were expanded to account for any invalid data, such as the subject’s refusal to complete the interview, the interviewer’s asking the wrong
person, the interview having been conducted via telephone, and fabrication of the data. A total of
5326 questionnaires were administered with 1863 valid questionnaires returned.
Data collection
The instrument was administered in the format of an in-person interview by trained interviewers.
The data were collected through the following three stages: 1) a pilot test of 388 subjects was conducted using the same sampling method as described above to identify and resolve any potential
problems before implementation of the questionnaire, 2) the questionnaire was administered
throughout Taiwan, and 3) the collected data were reviewed by the SPSS syntax to examine the
consistency across each subject’s responses.
Data analysis
Six models were created to analyze the 1863 collected questionnaires. The models used the same
independent variables but different dependent variables. Two analytical methods were used. First,
for the first two models, multiple regression analysis was used in the analysis of fortune-telling
beliefs and variety of fortune-telling practices. Second, for the next four models on the four kinds
of fortune-telling practices defined previously, logistic regression analysis (LRA) was used for the
analysis and prediction of a dichotomous outcome (Peng et al., 2002). SPSS 17.0 is employed as
the statistical analysis software.
5. Results
How does scientific knowledge relate to fortune-telling beliefs?
In Table 2, the results from the multiple regression model show that adults aged 18–29 years (.139,
p < .001) and 30–39 years (.065, p < .05) had more fortune-telling beliefs than those aged 50–65
years. Old religion beliefs (.120, p < .001) showed a positive association with fortune-telling
beliefs. The married (-.076, p < .05) were less likely to hold fortune-telling beliefs than the single.
Knowledge of scientific facts was negatively associated with fortune-telling beliefs, however, not
statistically significant. Knowledge of scientific methods (-.059, p < .05) was negatively associated
with fortune-telling beliefs with slight statistical significance.
How does scientific knowledge relate to the variety of fortune-telling practices in
which people engaged?
Variety of fortune-telling practices refers to the number of different fortune-telling practices that
respondents used, ranging from 0 to 11. The descriptive analysis showed that the variety of fortunetelling practices has an average of 1.71 and a standard deviation of 1.91 (Appendix 1), meaning
that the respondents used between 1 and 2 different fortune-telling practices. In Table 2, the results
from the multiple regression model showed that adults aged 30–39 years (.065, p < .01) used more
variety of fortune-telling practices than those aged 50–65 years. Females (.377, p < .001) also used
more variety of fortune-telling practices than males. Those with beliefs in old religion (.150, p <
.001) used more variety of fortune-telling practices. Those with tertiary education (.181, p < .001)
used more variety of fortune-telling practices than those with lower educational levels. Living in
Downloaded from pus.sagepub.com by Rick Borchelt on October 6, 2014
788
Public Understanding of Science 23(7)
Table 2. Two multiple regression models of fortune-telling beliefs and variety of fortune-telling practices.
(constant)
Age (50–65 years old = 0)
18–29
30–39
40–49
Female
Education level (Primary = 0)
Secondary
Tertiary
Religion (No religion = 0)
Old
New
Proximity to city
Income (Low = 0)
Middle
High
Married
Married * female
Scientific facts
Scientific methods
Fortune-telling beliefs
Variety of fortune-telling practices
Beta
Beta
p
.324
p
.043
.139***
.065*
.025
.094
.000
.012
.343
.242
.039
.065**
.038
.377***
.200
.009
.138
.000
.061
.054
.181
.313
.072
.181***
.104
.000
.120***
–.036
.041
.000
.161
.095
.150***
.028
.098***
.000
.250
.000
–.008
.004
–.076*
.053
–.023
–.059*
.801
.913
.033
.533
.439
.024
.006
–.015
–.029
–.280**
.072*
.037
.849
.641
.411
.001
.013
.148
*p < .05; **p < .01; ***p ≤ .001.
closer proximity to a city (.098, p < .001) predicted more engagement with a variety of fortunetelling practices. There is an interaction between marital status and gender; married females (-.280,
p < .001) used less variety of fortune-telling practices than single females. There was, however, no
difference between single and married males. Knowledge of scientific facts (.072, p < .05) was
positively associated with variety of fortune-telling practices. Knowledge of scientific methods
was positively associated with variety of fortune-telling practices, however, with no statistical
significance.
How does scientific knowledge relate to four major kinds of fortune-telling
practices commonly found in Taiwan?
The descriptive analysis showed that fortune-telling practices are popular in Taiwan (Appendix 1).
Among the four types of fortune-telling practices, fate was the most popular type of fortune-telling
practice, followed by expression, divination, and western (52%, 39%, 20%, and 15%, respectively). In Table 3, four logistic regression models were constructed to test the research hypothesis
regarding the relationship between scientific knowledge and the likelihood of an adult engaging in
the pre-defined four different kinds of fortune-telling practices. The overall prediction for the models of fate, expression, western, and divination fortune-telling practices was 62.5%, 62.9%, 85.7%,
and 92.3%, respectively.8
Fate fortune-telling was negatively related to the age of 18–29 years (-.448, p < .01) compared
with the age of 50–65 years. Thus, given the same individual characteristics, adults aged 18–29
Downloaded from pus.sagepub.com by Rick Borchelt on October 6, 2014
789
Shein et al.
Table 3. Four logistic regression models of four different kinds of fortune-telling practices.
Fate
B
(constant)
–3.323***
Age (50–65 years old = 0)
18–29
–.448**
30–39
.327**
40–49
.280*
Female
1.188**
Education level (Primary = 0)
Secondary
.231
Tertiary
.551*
Religion (No religion = 0)
Old
.839***
New
.028
Proximity to city
.195***
Income (Low = 0)
Middle
.234
High
.124
Married
.372*
Married * female
–.505*
Scientific facts
.080**
Scientific methods
.036
Chi-square χ2
186.356***
Expression
Exp(B) p
B
Western
Exp(B)
p
B
Divination
Exp(B)
p
.036
.000
–2.489***
.083
.000
–4.995***
.007
.639
1.387
1.324
3.280
.007
.008
.024
.001
.414*
.216
.119
.803*
1.513
1.241
1.126
2.231
.011
.075
.341
.018
1.157***
.534**
.176
.497
3.181
1.706
1.192
1.645
.000
.003
.412
.285
1.260
1.734
.243
.016
.308
.474
1.360
1.607
.162
.055
2.263*
2.937**
9.610
18.860
2.314
1.029
1.215
.000
.901
.000
.406**
.061
.135**
1.501
1.062
1.144
.002
.796
.005
.322
.042
.144*
1.264
1.132
1.451
.604
1.083
1.037
.071
.481
.019
.014
.007
.466
.098
–.040
–.092
–.360
.059
.068
97.985***
1.103
.960
.912
.697
1.061
1.071
.455
.820
.565
.078
.051
.185
B
Exp(B)
.000 –3.819***
p
.022
.000
.170
.651**
.468*
.996
1.186
1.917
1.597
2.708
.564
.002
.035
.097
.028
.005
.041
.616
1.042
1.852
.923
.190
1.381
1.043
1.155
.067
.900
.045
.681**
.049
.193*
1.977
1.051
1.213
.007
.918
.027
.002
1.002
–.137
.872
–1.419*** .242
.477
1.611
.126** 1.134
–.077
.926
333.438***
.990
.607
.000
.160
.011
.347
–.257
.773
.069
1.071
–.115
.891
–.394
.674
–.094
.910
.048
1.049
44.607***
.286
.823
.701
.282
.084
.627
*p < .05; **p < .01; ***p ≤ .001.
years were less likely to practice fate fortune-telling than those aged 50–65 years. However, adults
aged 30–39 years (.327, p < .01) and 40–49 years (.280, p < .05) were more likely to practice fate
fortune-telling than those aged 50–65 years. Females (1.188, p < .01) were more likely to practice
fate fortune-telling than males. And, those with tertiary education (.551, p < .05) were more likely
to practice fate fortune-telling than those with lower educational levels. Adults with beliefs in old
religion (.839, p < .001) were more likely to practice fate fortune-telling than those with new or no
religious beliefs. Those living closer to a city (.195, p < .001) were more likely to practice fate
fortune-telling than those living farther away. Those with middle income (.234, p = .071) were
more likely to practice fate fortune-telling than those with low or high income, this being close to
reaching statistical significance. Married adults (.372, p < .05) were more likely to practice fate
fortune-telling than singles. There was also an interaction between marital status and gender.
Marital status moderated gender differences in fate fortune-telling practice. As seen in Figure 1, for
the single, females predicted more use of fate fortune-telling than males; however, for the married,
males predicted more use of fate fortune-telling than females. Gender differences were dramatically reversed for both groups of marital status. Additionally, the higher the knowledge of scientific
facts (.080, p < .01), the more likely the adults would practice fate fortune-telling. Knowledge of
scientific methods was positively associated with fate fortune-telling practice; however, there was
no statistical significance.
Expression fortune-telling practice was positively related to the age of 18–29 years (.414, p <
.05) compared with the age of 50–65 years old. That is, the youngest group practiced more expression fortune-telling than those aged 50–65 years. Moreover, gender, educational level, religion,
proximity to city, and scientific knowledge were associated with the prediction of expression fortune-telling practice. As with the pattern of fate fortune-telling, females (.803, p < .05) were more
likely to practice expression fortune-telling than males. The most educated, those with tertiary
Downloaded from pus.sagepub.com by Rick Borchelt on October 6, 2014
790
Public Understanding of Science 23(7)
Figure 1. The log of the odds of an adult practicing fate fortune-telling and marital status by gender.
Given age 30–39, education = tertiary, religion = old, scientific facts = 10, scientific methods = 3.
education (.474, p = .055), were more likely to practice expression fortune-telling than the less
educated. Those with beliefs in old religion (.406, p < .01) were more likely to practice expression
fortune-telling than those with new or no religious beliefs. Those living closer to a city (.135, p <
.01) were more likely to practice expression fortune-telling than those living farther away.
Knowledge of scientific facts (.059, p = .051) was positively associated with practicing expression
fortune-telling. Knowledge of scientific methods was positively associated, with no statistical significance, with expression fortune-telling practice.
Western fortune-telling practice was positively related to the ages of 18–29 years (1.157, p <
.001) and 30–39 years (.534, p < .01) compared with the age of 50–65 years. In other words, adults
aged less than 40 years old were more likely to practice western fortune-telling than those aged
50–65 years old. However, practicing western fortune-telling was not significantly related to gender. The higher the educational level, the more likely it is that an adult would practice western
fortune-telling. Adults with secondary education (2.263, p < .05) and tertiary education (2.937, p <
.01) were more likely to practice western fortune-telling than those with primary education. Adults
living closer to a city (.144, p < .05) were more likely to practice western fortune-telling than those
living farther away. Married adults (-1.419, p < .001) were less likely to practice western fortunetelling than singles. Knowledge of scientific facts (.126, p < .05) was positively associated with
western fortune-telling practice. The higher the knowledge of scientific facts, the more likely the
adults would practice western fortune-telling.
Divination fortune-telling practice was positively related to the ages of 30–39 years (.651, p <
.01) and 40–49 years (.468, p < .05) compared with the age of 50–65 years. In general, adults aged
30–49 years old were more likely to practice divination fortune-telling than the other age groups.
Gender and education level did not show a significant association with divination fortune-telling.
Old religion beliefs (.681, p < .01) and proximity to a city (.193, p < .05) were also positively associated with divination fortune-telling practice. Knowledge of scientific facts (-.094, p = .084) was
negatively associated with divination fortune-telling practice. The higher the scientific knowledge
of facts, the less likely it is that adults would practice divination fortune-telling. However, the
Downloaded from pus.sagepub.com by Rick Borchelt on October 6, 2014
791
Shein et al.
knowledge of scientific methods is positively associated with divination fortune-telling practice,
although with no statistical significance.
6. Discussion
This study examined the relationship between scientific knowledge and fortune-telling belief and
practices. Several socio-demographic characteristics in association with fortune-telling beliefs and
practices were considered in the models. Our findings show that fortune-telling is related to popular
traditional religious beliefs found in Taiwan, as those who hold the traditional religious beliefs are
more likely to practice fate, expression and divination kinds of fortune-telling than those with new or
no religious beliefs. In addition, the youngest group showed firmer beliefs in the predictive nature of
fortune-telling and more engagement with expression and western fortune-telling practice. Such a
phenomenon could probably be due to the influence of the media (Tsai et al., 2011) and sub-culture.
It was found that the highly educated and city dwellers, in general, had a larger likelihood to believe
in and practice fortune-telling. Higher educational attainment and closer proximity to cities indicate
more social opportunities and a higher degree of uncertainty, which may explain a stronger predilection for fortune-telling (Chiu, 2006; Giddens, 1991). Another interesting finding was the interaction
between marital status and gender. In particular, married males were more likely to practice fate fortune-telling than single males. The change in marital status could result in a redefinition of social
roles and responsibilities, explaining the reason males, after marriage, would engage in more traditional fortune-telling practices than before. As people go through certain stages in life or encounter
“fateful moments” (Giddens, 1991: 112), they seem to resort to fortune-telling for guidance.
After controlling for these social and cultural correlates, our analysis showed that knowledge of
scientific methods was negatively associated with fortune-telling beliefs. On the other hand,
knowledge of scientific facts was, by and large, positively associated with actual engagement in
fortune-telling practices, a cultural phenomenon known as cognitive polyphasia (Jovchelovitch,
2002) or non-overlapping magisteria (Gould, 1997). If these behaviors of fortune-telling are reflective of the “tacit knowledge” of individuals (Polanyi, 1983), as fortune-telling is often done in
private with the fortune-tellers in person or online, our findings may suggest a coexistence of different knowledge systems within an individual. As Jovchelovitch (2007: 6) stated, “different forms
of knowledge can live side by side, cross-fertilising and undergoing productive transformations on
the basis of dialogical encounters.” Similar results have also been reported in a survey in France
(Broch, 2000). As suggested by Goode (2002: 25), “the notion that paranormalism violates the
laws of nature is an emic concept among scientists,” whereas “the human capacity to compartmentalize categories of thinking is sufficiently great as to permit simultaneous belief in assertions that
are contradictory.”
Oftentimes, science is framed as a higher form of knowledge that is held by an exclusive group
people, and thus the name of science is often used to exclude, degrade, or eradicate other forms of
knowledge that contradict with or are unable to be represented by science. This mindset marks and
perpetuates the boundaries of inclusion and exclusion – what is and what is not scientific – which
leads to theoretical and organizational divisions that prevent meaningful and productive communication and advancement. The study suggests a paradigm shift in how science is viewed as a part of
a whole that exists with, depends on, communicates with other parts in order to make sense of the
world. The relational and situated perspective that this study adopts is different from the conventional dichotomous and oppositional positioning of the educational–paranormal connection: that
an engagement in fortune-telling practices is an indicator of a lack of scientific reasoning. Therefore,
the findings of this study do not imply or indicate that science education has no effect on promoting
scientific knowledge; they do encourage science education researchers and practitioners to use a
Downloaded from pus.sagepub.com by Rick Borchelt on October 6, 2014
792
Public Understanding of Science 23(7)
culturally sensitive lens to reexamine the role of science in society and its relationship with other
knowledge systems.
The coexisting relationship between science knowledge and fortune-telling practices found in
this study offers some future directions of research in public understanding of science. First, one
suggestion is to consider other factors that may confound the relationship between scientific
knowledge and fortune-telling, such as indicators of socio-economic status. Second, another suggestion is to delve into the reasons and motivations why those who are more scientifically knowledgeable are more likely to engage in fortune-telling. Third, such analysis could be performed in
other countries. However, as beliefs and practices vary in different cultures, it would be necessary
to modify or add new measures to fully consider the historical, social, and cultural contexts unique
to the place of study. Fourth, our theoretical and analytical framework could be used to examine
different forms of traditional knowledge, as they may associate differently with scientific knowledge (Goode, 2002). Fifth, further efforts could be invested in the construction of alternative representations of public knowledge of science in order to more precisely depict its relationship with
other realms of knowledge and belief (Bauer et al., 2000, 2007). Sixth, to further test the “uncertainty” (Chiu, 2006) or the “fateful moment” (Giddens, 1991) hypothesis, a longitudinal study with
the same sample could be done to better understand the change in beliefs and practices concurrent
with change in life events or cycles. Seventh, to support the statistical data provided in this study,
qualitative methods could be used to describe and reconstruct the meaning-making processes of
human beings in greater detail.
Acknowledgements
The authors are thankful to the research team, research assistants, students who have been very supportive to
this study, and the anonymous reviewers for their insightful comments on a prior draft of this paper.
Funding
The work reported here was supported by Taiwan’s National Science Council under grant number
NSC99-2511-S-110-007-MY2.
Notes
1. Taiwan’s folk beliefs represent a set of religious beliefs that are not necessarily based on systematic
dogma, canon, or organization. The nature and function of folk beliefs are related to everyday life,
including worshiping the ancestors and spirits, seasonal rituals, ceremonies related to life, death, and
events in between, etc. The main characteristics of folk beliefs are their synergetic function of bringing together local communities, reliance on gods and spirits, and practicality in relation to daily life
situations.
2. The fortune-telling practices of bone reading and abacus calculation were not included as part of the
analysis because very low percentages of citizens have used these methods (3.8% and 0.5%, respectively). The choices of “others” and “have never used fortune-telling” (1.2% and 32.4% respectively)
were also excluded from the analysis. There was no correlation between “others” fortune-telling and
scientific knowledge variables, but respondents who “have never used fortune-telling” showed negative
correlations with knowledge of scientific facts (r = -.160, p < .001) and knowledge of scientific methods
(r = -.132, p < .001).
3. Four pillars of destiny, frequently called ba-zi, is a conceptual term that describes the four components
within the moment of birth, namely year, month, day, and hour, that create a person’s destiny or fate.
4. Chinese astrology, often called zi-wei-dou-shu, is often compared with western astrology. However,
unlike western astrology, Chinese astrology is based on a Chinese calendar and not on the celestial bodies of stars and planets.
Downloaded from pus.sagepub.com by Rick Borchelt on October 6, 2014
793
Shein et al.
5. Glyphomancy is a fortune-telling method in which the glyphs of a written or chosen Chinese character
are dissected to understand the hidden meanings behind the expression and combination of the strokes.
6. Feng Shui is historically and widely used to orient and lay out buildings, including tombs, in an auspicious manner determined by reference to local features such as bodies of water, stars, or a compass.
7. Anthroponymy is the study of personal names.
8. Two logistic regression models were also constructed to test how the independent variables would predict the likelihood of engaging in “other” kinds of fortune-telling practices and “have never used fortunetelling.” The overall prediction for the models was 98.8% and 69.4%, respectively. The former model
showed no significance in any predictors and the latter model showed significance in six predictors.
“Never used fortune-telling” was negatively related to the age of 30–39 years (-.312, p < .05) compared
with the age of 50–65 years. Females (-1.241, p < .01) were less likely to never practice fortune-telling
than males. Those educated with tertiary education (-.661, p < .05) were less likely to never practice
fortune-telling than the less educated. Those with beliefs in old religion (-.819, p < .001) were less
likely to never practice fortune-telling than those with new or no religious beliefs. Those living closer
to cities (-.273, p < .001) were less likely to never practice any fortune-telling than those living farther
away. Married females were more likely to never use fortune-telling than married males (.463, p < .05).
Additionally, the higher the knowledge of scientific facts (-.076, p < .01), the more likely the adults
would practice fate fortune-telling.
References
Afonso AS and Gilbert JK (2010) Pseudo-science: A meaningful context for assessing nature of science.
International Journal of Science Education 32(3): 329–348.
Agrawal A (1995) Dismantling the divide between indigenous and scientific knowledge. Development and
Change 26(3): 413–439.
Allum N and Stoneman P (2012) Beliefs about astrology across Europe. In: Bauer MW, Shukla R and
Allum N (eds) The Culture of Science: How the Public Relates to Science across the Globe. New York:
Routledge, pp. 301–322.
Allum N, Sturgis P, Tabourazi D and Brunton-Smith I (2008) Science knowledge and attitudes across cultures: A meta-analysis. Public Understanding of Science 17(1): 35–54.
Baram-Tsabari A and Segev E (2011) Exploring new web-based tools to identify public interest in science.
Public Understanding of Science 20(1): 130–143.
Bauer M and Durant J (1997) Belief in astrology: A social-psychological analysis. Culture and Cosmos: A
Journal of the History of Astrology and Cultural Astronomy 1: 55–72.
Bauer MW, Petkova K and Boyadjieva P (2000) Public knowledge of and attitudes to science: Alternative
measures that may end the “Science War.” Science, Technology & Human Values 25(1): 30–51.
Bauer MW, Allum N and Miller S (2007) What can we learn from 25 years of PUS survey research? Liberating
and expanding the agenda. Public Understanding of Science 16(1): 79–95.
Broch H (2000) Save our science: The struggle for reason at the university. Skeptical Inquirer 24(3): 34–39.
Chang Y-H (2000) Technical Report of the Social Change Survey in Taiwan. Taipei, Taiwan: Institute of
Sociology, Academia Sinica.
Chin CC (2007) A reflection on the science education of Taiwan – the voice from the elites in Taiwan.
Chinese Journal of Science Education 15(6): 627–646.
China Research Institute for Science Popularization (CRISP) (2008) Chinese Public Understanding of
Science and Attitudes towards Science and Technology. Beijing, China: China Research Institute for
Science Popularization.
Chiu H-Y (1993) Changes and variations in magical and religious behavior of Taiwanese from 1985 to
1990. Proceedings of the National Science Council, Republic of China, Part C: Humanities and Social
Sciences 3: 125–143.
Chiu H-Y (2006) Religion, Occultism, and Social Change in Taiwan. Taipei, Taiwan: Laureate Book.
Durant JR, Evans GA and Thomas GP (1989) The public understanding of science. Nature 340 (6 July):
11–14.
Downloaded from pus.sagepub.com by Rick Borchelt on October 6, 2014
794
Public Understanding of Science 23(7)
Durant JR, Evans GA and Thomas GP (1992) Public understanding of science in Britain: The role of medicine
in the popular representation of science. Public Understanding of Science 1: 161–182.
Emmons RA and Paloutzian RF (2003) The psychology of religion. Annual Review of Psychology 54:
377–402.
European Commission (1992) Eurobarometer 76: Europeans, Science and Technology – Public Understanding
and Attitudes. Brussels: European Commission.
European Commission (2001) Europeans, Science and Technology. Brussels: European Commission.
European Commission (2005) Special Eurobarometer 224: Europeans, Science and Technology. Brussels:
European Commission.
Evans GA and Durant JR (1995) The relationship between knowledge and attitudes in the public understanding of science in Britain. Public Understanding of Science 4: 57–74.
Freire P (1970) Pedagogy of the Oppressed. New York: Herder and Herder.
Fu YC and Tu S-H (2010) Technical Report of the Social Change Survey in Taiwan. Taipei, Taiwan: Institute
of Sociology, Academia Sinica.
Giddens A (1991) Modernity and Self-Identity: Self and Society in the Late Modern Age. Stanford, CA:
Stanford University Press.
Gokhberg L and Shuvalova O (2004) Russian Public Opinion of the Knowledge Economy: Science,
Innovation, Information Technology and Education as Drivers of Economic Growth and Quality of Life.
Moscow: CSRS.
Goode E (2002) Education, scientific knowledge, and belief in the paranormal. Skeptical Inquirer 26(1):
24–27.
Gorsuch RL (1988) Psychology of religion. Annual Review of Psychology 39: 201–221.
Gould SJ (1997) Nonoverlapping magisteria. Natural History 106 (March): 16–22.
Hung YT (1992) Sampling design of public opinion survey. Research, Development and Evaluation
Commission 16(1): 22–34.
Johnson M and Pigliucci M (2004) Is knowledge of science associated with higher skepticism of pseudoscientific claims? The American Biology Teacher 66(8): 536–548.
Jovchelovitch S (2002) Re-thinking the diversity of knowledge: Cognitive polyphasia, belief and representation. Psychologie et société 5(1): 121–138.
Jovchelovitch S (2007) Knowledge in Context: Representations, Community and Culture. New York:
Routledge.
Jovchelovitch S (2008) The rehabilitation of common sense: Social representations, science and cognitive
polyphasia. Journal for the Theory of Social Behaviour 38(4): 431–448.
Korea Foundation for the Advancement of Science and Creativity (KOFAC) (2009) Survey of Public Attitudes
towards and Understanding of Science and Technology 2008. Seoul, Korea: Korea Foundation for the
Advancement of Science and Creativity.
Kuo C (2005) Searching for the factors and motives that influence online fortune-telling behavior. Mass
Communication Resarch 85: 141–182.
Lilienfeld SO, Lohr JM and Morier D (2001) The teaching of courses in the science and pseudoscience of
psychology: Useful resources. Teaching of Psychology 28(3): 182–191.
Lindeman M and Aarnio K (2006) Paranormal beliefs: Their dimensionality and correlates. European Journal
of Personality 20(7): 585–602.
Losh SC (2011) American public understanding of science. In: Bauer MW, Shukla R and Allum N (eds) The
Culture of Science: How the Public Relates to Science across the Globe. New York: Routledge, pp.
55–75.
Losh SC and Nzekwe B (2011) Creatures in the classroom: Preservice teacher beliefs about fantastic beasts,
magic, extraterrestrials, evolution and creationism. Science & Education 20: 473–489.
Malaysian Science and Technology Information Centre (MASTIC) (2010) The Public Awareness of Science
and Technology – Malaysia 2008. Putrajaya, Malaysia: Malaysian Science and Technology Information
Centre.
Martin M (1994) Pseudoscience, the paranormal, and science education. Science & Education 3: 357–371.
Downloaded from pus.sagepub.com by Rick Borchelt on October 6, 2014
795
Shein et al.
Martin-Hansen L (2008) First-year college students’ conflict with religion and science. Science & Education
17(4): 317–357.
McLean CP and Miller NA (2010) Changes in critical thinking skills following a course on science and pseudoscience: A quasi-experimental study. Teaching of Psychology 37(2): 85–90.
Miller JD (1983) Scientific literacy: A conceptual and empirical review. Daedalus 112(2): 29–48.
Miller JD (1987) Scientific literacy in the United States. In: Evered D and O’Connor M (eds) Communicating
Science to the Public. London: Wiley, pp. 19–40.
Miller JD (1995) Scientific literacy for effective citizenship. In: Yager RE (ed.) Science/Technology/Society
as Reform in Science Education. New York: State University Press of New York, pp. 185–204.
Miller JD (1998) The measurement of civic scientific literacy. Public Understanding of Science 7: 203–223.
Miller JD (2004) Public understanding of, and attitudes toward, scientific research: What we know and what
we need to know. Public Understanding of Science 13: 273–294.
Miller JD and Pifer LK (1995) The Public Understanding of Biomedical Sciences in the United States: Final
Report to the National Institutes of Health. Chicago: Chicago Academy of Sciences.
National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER) (2004) National Science Survey: 2004. New
Delhi, India: National Council of Applied Economic Research.
National Institute of Science and Technology Policy (NISTEP) (2002) The 2001 Survey of Public Attitudes
toward and Understanding of Science and Technology in Japan. Toyko, Japan: National Institute of
Science and Technology Policy.
National Science Board (2002) Science and Engineering Indicators:2002. Washington, DC: U.S. Government
Printing Office.
National Science Board (2006) Science and Engineering Indicators:2006. Washington, DC: U.S. Government
Printing Office.
National Science Board (2008) Science and Engineering Indicators:2008. Washington, DC: U.S. Government
Printing Office.
National Science Board (2010) Science and Engineering Indicators:2010. Washington, DC: U.S. Government
Printing Office.
National Science Board (2012) Science and Engineering Indicators:2012. Washington, DC: U.S. Government
Printing Office.
Pardo R and Calvo F (2004) The cognitive dimension of public perceptions of science: Methodological issues.
Public Understanding of Science 13: 203–227.
Peng C-YJ, Lee KL and Ingersoll GM (2002) An introduction to logistic regression analysis and reporting.
Journal of Educational Research 96(1): 3–14.
Polanyi M (1983) The Tacit Dimension. Gloucester, MA: Peter Smith.
Preece PFW and Baxter JH (2000) Scepticism and gullibility: The superstitious and pseudo-scientific beliefs
of secondary school students. International Journal of Science Education 22(11): 1147–1156.
Shermer M (2002) Why People Believe Weird Things: Pseudoscience, Superstition, and Other Confusions of
Our Time. New York: Henry Holt and Company.
Shukla R (2005) India Science Report: Science Education, Human Resources and Public Attitude towards
Science and Technology. New Delhi, India: National Council of Applied Economic Research.
Sparks G and Miller W (2001) Investigating the relationship between exposure to television programs that
depict paranormal phenomena and beliefs in the paranormal. Communication Monographs 68(1): 98–
113.
Tsai C-Y, Shein PP, Jack BM, Wu K-C, Chou C-Y, Wu Y-Y, Liu C-J, Chiu H-L, Hung J-F, Chao D and
Huang T-C (2011) Effects of exposure to pseudoscientific television programs upon Taiwanese citizens’
pseudoscientific beliefs. International Journal of Science Education, Part B 2(2): 175–194.
Turgut H (2011) The context of demarcation in nature of science teaching: The case of astrology. Science &
Education 20(5/6): 491–515.
Walker WR, Hoekstra SJ and Vogl RJ (2002) Science education is no guarantee of skepticism. Skeptic 9(3):
24–27.
Wellman JL (2009) Organizational Learning: How Companies and Institutions Manage and Apply
Knowledge. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
Downloaded from pus.sagepub.com by Rick Borchelt on October 6, 2014
796
Public Understanding of Science 23(7)
Author biographies
Paichi Pat Shein is an Assistant Professor at the Institute of Education and the Center for Teacher Education
at National Sun Yat-sen University, Taiwan. Her research interest focuses on attitudes toward science and
technology, engagement with science and technology, and informal science education.
Yuh-Yuh Li is a Research Fellow at the Center for General Education and the Research Center for Promoting
Civic Literacy at National Sun Yat-sen University. His research interest focuses on survey research on public
understanding of science, public perceptions of science and technology, and public attitudes toward new
technology.
Tai-Chu Huang is a professor at the Center for General Education and the director of the Research Center for
Promoting Civic Literacy at National Sun Yat-sen University. She has been the principal investigator for the
Taiwan Survey of Public Scientific Literacy since 2008. Her research interest focuses on scientific literacy
and development of students’ interests and skills in informal education programs.
Downloaded from pus.sagepub.com by Rick Borchelt on October 6, 2014