SKEPTIC RESEARCH CENTER
A New Project by the Skeptics Society
As a non-profit science and educational organization, the Skeptics Society is committed to understanding and promoting the best scientific practices and the most illuminating findings of scientists around the world. Data and evidence are our best tools for diagnosing and remedying the many problems confronting society, from political polarization and income inequality to climate change and fake news.
Since 1992 the Skeptics Society has been devoted to debunking bunk and junking junk science, along with responding to conspiracy theories and general ideological woo that seems to corrupt and cloud so much of our discourse. We have long respected the research produced by polling and survey organizations such as Gallup Poll, Pew Research Center, Harris Interactive, and others, but have found that they did not always ask the questions we were particularly interested in answering, so to remedy that we are launching the Skeptic Research Center (SRC).
The SRC will be collaborating with qualified researchers to release research reports detailing peoples’ attitudes about the important topics of our time. These reports will be short and easy to read, addressing a single issue each time. The data will be analyzed clearly and made transparently available to the public. Importantly, this research will be freely available to everyone. Our goal is to empower you, the reader, with an understanding of what your fellow citizens really believe and how they really behave. Supplemental reports will be included that provide details on how the data was collected and statistically analyzed.
The skeptical movement of which we are a part stands in a long tradition dating back to the Scientific Revolution, the Age of Reason, and the Enlightenment, and carrying through into the 21st century with the application of empiricism and rationality to all aspects of the world, including the physical, biological, and social sciences.
Data and evidence are the bedrock of a skeptical and scientific worldview. By a convergence of data and evidence, we can reason our way to smarter solutions, more rational institutions, more just policies, and brighter futures.
Check out the Skeptic Research Center
Science is fundamentally a collaborative endeavor. Your contributions, whether concrete (i.e., monetary) or abstract (i.e., ideas) are important to us. There are many ways you can become involved or contribute to the Skeptic Research Center. Fund our studies. Provide feedback. Submit an idea by email.
Welcome to the Skeptic Research Center!
Our first report is produced by Anondah Saide, Ph.D. and Kevin McCaffree, Ph.D., in which they address one of the hot-button issues of 2020: Division in the Democratic Party.
REPORT (SPAS-001)
Division in the Democratic Party
Part of the Social & Political Attitudes Study (SPAS)
Many pundits have suggested that a divided Democratic party contributed to the “surprise” election of Donald Trump in 2016, and that such division may contribute to Trump’s re-election in 2020. In the Social and Political Attitudes Study (SPAS), we surveyed a nationally representative sample of adults to examine the question, “Are Democrats more divided than Republicans?”
Suggested Citation: Saide, A., & McCaffree, K. 2020. Division in the Democratic Party. Skeptic Research Center, SPAS-001.
Technical and statistical information on this data and analysis is available in the Supplemental Materials for Report SPAS-001.
Research reports for the Social & Political Attitudes Study (SPAS) are scheduled to be released July–November 2020 and all reports and supplementals for this study will be downloadable from the study webpage.
Next Friday…
Our next report (SPAS-002) will examine whether Democrats or Republicans are more intolerant of the party they perceive to be most different from their own.
We are interested in hearing your suggestions for future research studies. Please send us an email to [email protected].
