The perception on the theory of evolution, man from ape: A cross ethnic, education and religious backgrounds study

Abstract

This study was conducted to see the perception of the Malaysian on the theory of evolution with special focus on the origin of man from ape. 640 respondents, males and females from all over the country of Malaysia were obtained randomly. The respondents come from various ethnic and religious backgrounds from the age of 20 to 50. The study used the questionnaire method whereby the respondents were given a booklet containing statements on the relation between science and religion including a statement related to the theory of evolution that man originally came from ape. The statements were provided with five responses to be chosen by the respondents. The booklets of questionnaire were collected to be analysed by using the SPSS to obtain the mean response, the mean response according to the ethnic, religious and academic background. T-test were also conducted if the means responses were significantly different. The findings show that the 77% of the Muslim respondents rejected the theory of evolution that men come from apes, 22% of the Christian, 23% of the Buddhists and 36% of the Hindu respondents rejected this theory also. The mean difference between the response of the Muslim respondents significantly different from the mean responses all the other religious groups.