Online purchase patterns show left-wingers and right-wingers read very different science books

The partisan consumption of science may contribute to opposing views on important issues By Alex Fradera With political tribalism a feature of our times, perhaps science could act as a unifying force. While faith in politicians and journalists is in the doldrums, surveys in countries like Britain, Canada and the US suggest scientists are among the most respected professions, and citizens are appreciative of the contribution science makes to their lives. As the authors of a recent article in Nature Human Behaviour note, it seems that “we may disagree on emotionally charged social issues, but at least we can agree on science”.  Sadly, their findings show that it’s not so simple. Although politically diverse people may be fans of science, we’re not fans of the same science. The researchers, led by Feng Shi at the University of Chicago, explored the book-buying habits of tens of millions of Americans by analysing two huge datasets belonging to Amazon and Barnes & Noble, which encoded the purchase patterns that make possible recommendations like “customers who bought this item also bought…”. The researchers coded over a million books in the databases: about half a million covered topics like art, fiction and sports; there were over 400,000 science books, categorised into different domains like life sciences and further into disciplines like medicine; and finally, there were political books, from which the researchers identified nearly 600 emphatically libe...
Source: BPS RESEARCH DIGEST - Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Tags: Political Source Type: blogs