Role of Science in Finnish Worldviews and Everyday Thinking 2019-2020

The survey studied the role of science in Finnish worldviews and everyday thinking. Main themes of the survey included how those who value science approach fundamental questions about the nature of the universe and human existence and how science informs their worldviews. The study was funded by the Finnish Cultural Foundation. First, the respondents' beliefs were charted with questions on the origins of human consciousness, evolution, the origin of the universe, and the reason for the existence of suffering. Scientific views were measured with several statements, for example, whether the respondents felt that science helped them to understand the world, whether science gave their lives meaning, and whether science informed their moral values. The respondents were also asked how science influenced their views on death and immortality, and whether they felt that science connected them to the rest of humanity and the universe. The respondents' worldviews were explored with questions on, for example, the fairness of the world, destiny, and life after death. The respondents were also asked to respond to statements about nature in relation to topics such as the formation of the Earth, the origin of living beings, natural selection, and the forces affecting the world. Finally, the respondents responded to a measure that measured scientific belief which the researchers had translated into Finnish (for more information on the measure, see Farias, M., Newheiser, A.-K., Kahane, G., & de Toledo, Z. 2013. Scientific faith: Belief in science increases in the face of stress and existential anxiety. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 49 (6), 1210 - 1213. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2013.05.008). The measure consisted of statements such as science provides us with a better understanding of the universe than does religion, we can only rationally believe in what is scientifically provable, and the scientific method is the only reliable path to knowledge. Background variables included the respondent's gender, age group, years of full-time education, spirituality, religious affiliation, belief in God, religious beliefs, possible previous or current work experience at a research institute, and the field of research worked in.

本调查探讨了科学在芬兰世界观及日常思维中的角色。调查的主要主题包括那些珍视科学的人如何探讨关于宇宙本质和人类存在的基本问题，以及科学如何塑造他们的世界观。该研究由芬兰文化基金会资助。首先，通过关于人类意识起源、进化、宇宙起源以及苦难存在原因等问题，对受访者的信仰进行了梳理。科学观点通过多项陈述进行衡量，例如受访者是否认为科学有助于他们理解世界，科学是否赋予了他们的生命意义，以及科学是否影响了他们的道德价值观。受访者还被问及科学如何影响他们对死亡和不朽的看法，以及他们是否认为科学将他们与人类及宇宙联系起来。通过关于世界公平性、命运以及死后生命等问题，对受访者的世界观进行了探究。受访者还被要求对与地球形成、生命起源、自然选择以及影响世界的力量等主题相关的自然陈述做出回应。最后，受访者对研究人员翻译成芬兰语的衡量科学信仰的量表进行了回应（关于该量表的更多信息，请参阅Farias, M.，Newheiser, A.-K.，Kahane, G.，& de Toledo, Z. 2013年的论文《科学信仰：面对压力和存在焦虑时，对科学的信仰增加》。《实验社会心理学杂志》，49（6），1210 - 1213。https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2013.05.008）。该量表包括诸如科学为我们提供了比宗教更好的宇宙理解，我们只能理性地相信科学上可证明的事物，以及科学方法是获取知识的唯一可靠途径等陈述。背景变量包括受访者的性别、年龄组、全日制教育年限、精神信仰、宗教归属、对上帝的信仰、宗教信仰、可能的前期或当前在研究机构的工作经验，以及所从事的研究领域。