Valuing Science: A Turkish-American comparison

Abstract

The process of modernization began in Turkey under the reform government of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk (1881-1938). Turkey officially became a secular nation seeking to develop a modern economy with modern science and technology and political democracy. Turkey also has long been, and remains, a deeply religious society. Specifically, the practice of Islam is widespread, which raises the important question: whether the path of modernization in Turkey will look more like the American pattern or the European, where the Europeans are much more philosophically secular than the Americans? One way to look at this question is by examining how people value science vis-a-vis other important aspects of society and culture. Hence, our study is a comparative look at Turkish and American opinions about science. The American society, which is certainly a very modern society, is of particular interest in Turkey, given the significant religiosity of the American people, making the American and Turkish societies similar at least on this one significant point. Although we do not have comparable European data at this time, our Turkish-American comparison can be suggestive of whether or not Turkey is likely to follow the American pattern of a highly modernized yet deeply religious society.