Changes

== Miron Zuckerman meta-study ==

== Miron Zuckerman meta-study ==

A [[Meta-analysis|meta-study]] conducted by Miron Zuckerman, a psychologist at the University of Rochester, examined 63 studies that measured intelligence and religiosity which found that atheists scored higher on [[Intelligence testing|intelligence tests]].<ref>[http://www.religionnews.com/2013/08/16/are-atheists-smarter-than-believers-not-exactly/ Are atheists smarter than believers? Not exactly]</ref> The original 2013 paper stated a correlation of -.20 to -.25. In a later 2019 study (see below) the correlation got weaker to -.20 to -.23. All of these are very weak-poor correlations in psychology, statistically speaking.<ref>https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6107969/ Akoglu H. User's guide to correlation coefficients. Turk J Emerg Med. 2018 Aug 7;18(3):91-93. doi: 10.1016/j.tjem.2018.08.001. See Table 1.</ref> (see Table 1 in ref for how to interpret correlation coefficients).  

A [[Meta-analysis|meta-study]] conducted by Miron Zuckerman, a psychologist at the University of Rochester, examined 63 studies that measured intelligence and religiosity which found that atheists scored higher on [[Intelligence testing|intelligence tests]].<ref>[http://www.religionnews.com/2013/08/16/are-atheists-smarter-than-believers-not-exactly/ Are atheists smarter than believers? Not exactly]</ref> The original 2013 paper stated a correlation of -.20 to -.25. In a later 2019 study (see below) the correlation got weaker to -.20 to -.23. All of these are very weak-poor correlations in psychology, statistically speaking.<ref>Akoglu H. "[https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6107969/ User's guide to correlation coefficients.] Turk J Emerg Med. 2018 Aug 7;18(3):91-93. doi: 10.1016/j.tjem.2018.08.001. See Table 1.</ref> (see Table 1 in ref for how to interpret correlation coefficients).  

=== Theodore Beale's criticisms of Zuckerman's study ===

=== Theodore Beale's criticisms of Zuckerman's study ===

Miron Zuckerman states that though he finds a robust result in his updated study, he qualifies his findings by noting that "the effect size of the relation is small. This means that there are factors besides intelligence that explain why people are or are not religious." And also notes "predicting religiosity from intelligence for individuals is fallible". Additionally he stated that "“Although we present reasons for the negative relation, the empirical evidence for these explanation is not definitive.” Furthermore, he admits that his study is limited to Western nations and is unsure about the generalizability as he sates "We don't know whether it generalizes to other populations, particularly those in the Far East."<ref>Eric W. Dolan. 15 November 2019. "Meta-analysis of 83 studies produces 'very strong' evidence for a negative relationship between intelligence and religiosity". PsyPost. Psychology News.</ref>

Miron Zuckerman states that though he finds a robust result in his updated study, he qualifies his findings by noting that "the effect size of the relation is small. This means that there are factors besides intelligence that explain why people are or are not religious." And also notes "predicting religiosity from intelligence for individuals is fallible". Additionally he stated that "“Although we present reasons for the negative relation, the empirical evidence for these explanation is not definitive.” Furthermore, he admits that his study is limited to Western nations and is unsure about the generalizability as he sates "We don't know whether it generalizes to other populations, particularly those in the Far East."<ref>Eric W. Dolan. 15 November 2019. "Meta-analysis of 83 studies produces 'very strong' evidence for a negative relationship between intelligence and religiosity". PsyPost. Psychology News.</ref>

The original 2013 paper stated a correlation of -.20 to -.25 based on 63 studies between intelligence and religiosity. However, this updated 2019 paper increased to include even more studies (83 studies), the correlation actually got weaker to -.20 to -.23. All of these are very weak-poor correlations in psychology, statistically speaking.<ref>https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6107969/ Akoglu H. User's guide to correlation coefficients. Turk J Emerg Med. 2018 Aug 7;18(3):91-93. doi: 10.1016/j.tjem.2018.08.001. See Table 1.</ref> (see Table 1 in ref for how to interpret correlation coefficients).  

The original 2013 paper stated a correlation of -.20 to -.25 based on 63 studies between intelligence and religiosity. However, this updated 2019 paper increased to include even more studies (83 studies), the correlation actually got weaker to -.20 to -.23. All of these are very weak-poor correlations in psychology, statistically speaking.<ref>Akoglu H. "[https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6107969/ User's guide to correlation coefficients.] Turk J Emerg Med. 2018 Aug 7;18(3):91-93. doi: 10.1016/j.tjem.2018.08.001. See Table 1.</ref> (see Table 1 in ref for how to interpret correlation coefficients).  

*[http://swilling.com/are-religious-people-dumb/ Are Religious People Dumber? Not quite]

*[http://swilling.com/are-religious-people-dumb/ Are Religious People Dumber? Not quite]