TABLE 2.
Essay prompt 1 codes
| Code | Brief description | Example quote | Final coding |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Discomfort: fear, discomfort, confusion | “It’s confusing to me to think of us once being little cells floating around and then becoming people who can think and talk and do so many things.” | Other |
| 2 | Demeaning: the idea is repugnant or offensive | “When I hear the word evolution I cringe. I absolutely hate the word evolution.” | Rejection |
| 3 | Improbable: the idea cannot be true | “The word that first pops into my head when I think about evolution would be fake/false.” | Rejection |
| 4 | Religious conflict: rejection for religious reasons | “Although I don’t think evolution and Christianity can coexist, I do believe that it is important to learn about both ends of the spectrum.” | Rejection |
| 5 | Avoidance: avoid because of controversy | “It seems that evolution really just brings up controversy and arguments about who’s right and who’s wrong.” | Other |
| 6 | Theory: only a theory with serious flaws | “I believe that evolution is more of a theory than a fact” | Rejection |
| 7 | Man different: accept evolution with exception of mankind | “I do know that there is substantial evidence that animals evolve. I do not believe, however, that humans evolved from apes.” | Limited acceptance |
| 8 | Ignorance: do not have an opinion | “For the most part, I just haven’t had really any interest into the idea.” | Other |
| 9 | Equivocal: uncertain, some evidence compelling, some not | “Basically, overall I am unsure how to really feel about evolution because I do not think that I have received adequate education on both sides of the argument to date.” | Other |
| 10 | Suspended judgment: resolving the matter not a high priority | “I couldn’t care less honestly how we got here because I have full faith in that God created Earth.” | Other |
| 11 | Acceptance: full acceptance of the theory | “I have been taught evolution from the Darwin perspective and have accepted it wholeheartedly, despite my religious nature and upbringing.” | Full acceptance |
| 12 | Adaptation only: accept small changes and adaptation, but not speciation | “I do believe that microevolution exists, but I don’t believe that one species (humans), can evolve completely from another” | Limited acceptance |
| 13 | Other: essays that do not fit in any of the categories above | “Some random and not very sound ideas I have is that we have misinterpreted the artifacts we have found and the Neanderthals were actually the angel hybrids talked about in Genesis.” | Other |