Tea Party Members Score Well on Scientific Literacy

Scored slightly higher than non-tea partiers

This is bound to surprise some people.

While conducting an analysis of the scientific comprehension of various political and religious groups, Yale professor Daniel M. Kahan discovered that self-identified tea partiers had slightly higher "scientific comprehension" than their non-tea party counterparts.

Using data from the National Science Foundation's "Science Indicators," the Cognitive Reflection Test, and a "nationally representative sample of U.S. adults recruited to participate in a study of vaccine risk perceptions," Kahan developed a series of "science comprehension" scales to analyze a variety of groups.