Online reading assignment question: opinions towards astrology

Astronomy 210, Fall Semester 2009
Cuesta College, San Luis Obispo, CA

Students have a weekly online reading assignment (hosted by SurveyMonkey.com), where they answer questions based on reading their textbook, material covered in previous lectures, opinion questions, and/or asking (anonymous) questions or making (anonymous) comments. Full credit is given for completing the online reading assignment before next week's lecture, regardless if whether their answers are correct/incorrect. Selected results/questions/comments are addressed by the instructor at the start of the following lecture.

(The following question was asked subsequent to, and then again following the lecture discussing the basis of sun-sign astrology, and how precession has shifted the position of the sun within certain zodiac constellations by one month from the dates published in popular astrological horoscopes.)

I believe astrology is able to make accurate predictions about my future. (Graded for completion.)
(SD) Strongly disagree.
(D) Disagree.
(N) Neutral.
(A) Agree
(SA) Strongly agree.

Student responses (pre-instruction)
Sections 70158, 70160
(SD) : 17 students
(D) : 16 students
(N) : 27 students
(A) : 8 students
(SA) : 0 students

Student responses (post-instruction)
Sections 70158, 70160
(SD) : 17 students
(D) : 18 students
(N) : 26 students
(A) : 7 students
(SA) : 2 students

Of the 68 students who had answered the pre-instruction question, and the 70 students who had answered the post-instruction question, 49 students had answered both the pre- and post-instruction questions (while 19 students answered only the pre-instruction, and 21 students only answered the post-instruction question).

Of the 49 students who answered both the pre- and post-instruction questions, 34 students had no change in their opinion, while 15 students changed their opinion.

Student responses (pre- and post-instruction responders, no change in opinion, N = 34)
Sections 70158, 70160
(SD) : 9 students
(D) : 8 students
(N) : 14 students
(A) : 3 students
(SA) : 0 students

Student responses (pre- and post-instruction responders, change in opinion, N = 15)
Sections 70158, 70160
(SD) : pre: 2 students; post: 4 students
(D) : pre: 6 students; post: 6 students
(N) : pre: 5 students; post: 4 students
(A) : pre: 2 students; post: 1 student
(SA) : pre: 0 students; post: 0 students

A Student t-test on all 49 students who answered both the pre- and post-instruction questions (34 students with no change in their opinion together with the 15 students that changed their opinion) results in p = 0.60, and thus there is no statistically significant difference between pre- and post-instruction responses.

For the students who took both and responded differently to the pre- and post-instruction questions, here were the shifts:

(SD) to (D): 2 students
(D) to (SD): 3 students
(D) to (N): 3 students
(N) to (SD): 1 student
(N) to (D): 3 students
(N) to (A): 1 student
(A) to (D): 1 student
(A) to (N): 1 student

"Negative shifts" in opinion (e.g., towards disagreement): 9 students
"Positive shifts" in opinion (e.g., towards agreement): 6 students
(Compare with the 34 students with no shifts in opinion.)

It appears that there is only a very slight shift towards negative opinions towards astrology in this small population sample, as many students apparently already have strongly held positions on this matter that are not going to be affected much by a single lecture on the basis of sun-sign astrology on Earth's revolution about the sun.

Students were given the opportunity to explain their pre-instruction opinion, responses are listed below verbatim.

Briefly explain your answer regarding your belief/disbelief in astrology. (Graded for completion.)

"i was raised catholic and i am not supposed to believe in astrology but i think that a lot of answers are amongst the stars."

"I believe that Jesus Christ is my Lord and Savior and only he can "predict" my future. :D"

"I check my horoscope everyday and sometimes it is accurate and other times it is off so I do believe it can be true at times."

"I believe that the day you were born does not serve as a credible indication of things, happenings, and/or events that will happen in your life."

"I just don't buy it. I put it in the same catagory as fortune cookies. they can apply to anybody."

"I find the information about astrology very interesting. Something i can relate to, but i usually don't take it word for word."

"There's no way the stars can predict how a person acts, because there are so many people and they are all different from eachother"

"I am a Leo and I agree on my traits. But i am not sure on the accuracy because i never really followed it it would have to be proven to me."

"I do not have a great deal of experience with astrology, but in my opinion it is the kind of thing that only works if you believe in it. Most horoscopes are general enough that they could apply to anybody, and like fortune cookies sometimes contain predictions that may or may not come true. As far as astrological signs and personalities go, I do believe that one's sign can contribute to their persona. This may be, though, due more to the environment in which that person was raised than to the exact date of his or her birth.
there have been lots of times where i have read my horoscope and it has describes a situation im going through, or it has suggested at events that are current in my life at that particular time."

"I've been told a lot of accurate things about personality traits from astrology, but I haven't heard anything about the future that's been correct.
I honestly think that it could go either way, astrology could be false or there could be some truth to it."

"i think we can trust astrology. we can use it to know many things.
I'm not entirely sure one way or the other."

"I dont understand how positions in the stars relate to our actions on earth."

"I dont think the time and date and stars on your birthday has any determination in your future. Though knowing some zodiac signs and meanings, the scorpio clears describes me to the t. So I am most defintely neural."

"Im not one that is really into astrology but i believe it. I am a scorpio and quite honestly i can be obsessive and sensitive but also i am a little crazy and scorpions are so i believe it."

"I agree for the fact, i'm gonna walk north sometime and look up at the north star to find my way out of the jungles of zanzabar."

"dont know how i feel about it, all new too me, come in with and open mind.
I believe in horoscopes, zodiac signs and that astrology is a genuine way of thinking that most people deny."

"Because I am a christian and i don't believe in astrology. i believe the stars were created by God and he is in control of everything."

"Astrology, aside from using vague and common traits to describe people striving for an identity so fervently that they look up rather than inside themselves, is completely reliant on these followers to prove it's predictions to be true. That is to say, astrology will always be right because the people who believe in it want it to be right, and those who don't care about astrology (who is legion, for they are many), also don't care enough to disprove it. Astrology is a complex system reliant on it's complexity to convince people of it's veracity, and believed by those so deeply frightened of the unknown, unpredictable future, that they will believe anything that reassures them they will live to see another day."

"I believe I can help decide what happens in my future. Astrology will not change or make any of my future decisions."

"I really dont think that astrology is that great at predicting things but sometimes it is true. Predictions are somehthing that dont really effect me and i dont really pay attention to them."

"I feel that astrology often offers very vague descriptions of what will happen 'according to the stars' in order to make the prediction easily applied to things that actually happen. Astrology is too broad to produce exact insight to the future."

"not only do i hold religious beliefs but i have read studies on it and it has been proven false. i do not believe it is evil or a sin to read your horoscope but do not believe it is true."

"I believe, when done correctly, Astrology can be a very accurate way to observe the possible pathways people can take during life."

"I am neutral because I don't pay any attention to astrology. I have never used it to make predictions about my future."

"I think it's a total load of hooey. I know astronomy, like the rest of everything around us, plays a role on how we act etc., but astrology is ridiculous. People are like ooh you're a scorpio you won't go well with a taurus, i'm like both my girlfriends i dated for over two years have both been Taurus's shut up and put your belief in something that's actually not ridiculous. All zodia things i've read are wrong 100% more than they're right. and they're always so vague too"

"Its never really proved to mean anything in my life."

"'Do not learn the ways of the nations or be terrified by signs in the sky, though the nations are terrified by them' (Jeremiah 10:1-2). God knows the future. I choose not to be dictated by anything else. Though he may use the stars."

"I never really look into those type of beliefs other than what the astrological meaning of my sign and others mean to see if they are true or not. More so, all of it is for fun."

"I'm not too sure i'm just neutral on it! very interesting!"

"I believe that astrology can help people predict the future if everything is played out in its natural course. Every person obviously can make their own choices and act how they want, but I do think that the stars and cosmic bodies can influence predictions."

"I believe astrology could possibly make accurate predictions about my future but, I don't believe the predictions are common or exact."

"Because sometimes the things listed in horoscopes don't happen as depicted."

"i dont really know what to think just yet just reading the descriptions of the zodiac signs make it seem believable so i will have to wait and find out"

"The future is unwritten and nothing can predict the future. Time is like a river with an infinite number of branches downstream, no one knows what branch they're going to go down."

"I believe astrology can make accurate predictions about the Earth's future, but not my personal life."

"I used to beleive in it, until i realized that we all do and don't share some of descripions."

"As far as I've seen, the predictions made for a person based on their starsigns are very broad, and often do not occur. I'm not a superstitious person, and all of the above descriptor words for each starsign could be applied to myself, depending on how I looked at it."

"In my experience with astrology, it's predictions and explanations of the future have seemed vague and adaptable, so as to apply to almost anyone."

"Astrology may get a lucky break and guess correctly every once in a while, but to me it seems to be mostly fantasy that the movements of the stars somehow predict the future."

"most the time it is true for me personally"

"I don't believe that when I was born or how the stars are aligned can tell me my future."

"Astrology has zero credibility to me. People see what the want to see and believe what the want to believe. If someone wants astrology to be credible they can tie it into their everyday lives. I don't. I still look at my astrology sign because it is fun to see what is predicted for your sign. Just curiosity I suppose, similar to wanted to see what lies inside a fortune cookie. You read, but don't take it seriously."

"I just don't believe that the stars can make predictions about my future."

"I believe that God has my future planned out, and that he did not that he put the answers in the stars because we need to trust him."

"I have heard both views that it can or cant accurately predict my future and I am not sure of either answer."

"I am not totally convinced about our signs but it does seem like a lot of the time it is correct"

"I disagree because I have yet to read or hear an accurate prediction on my future. Heck, I'm a pisces and half the description of that is incorrect.
Astrology is a pseudoscience, it may be fun but it is not scientifically proven"

"it depends on the predictions....it doesnt control my decisions."

"I don't know enough about astrology to either agree with it, or disagree, therefore I'm staying neutral in my answer."

"I am Neutral about astrology because I am a believe in Christ. And in the Bible it says that Christians should not believe in the make believe. That God plans your future and he's the only one that knows it fully. However, God made the universe, so he made the stars. It also is fun to look up your Horoscope and see what teen magazines have to say."

"i think that God is the only one that can make predictions in my life, for he is the one that gave us life."

"i believe that firstly if astrology were at all accurate it would not be the study of an aspect of the heavens which could predict my future but the stars themselves, or the person studying them. secondly if the stars show my life in any of their aspects i do not believe that humans know enough to be able to predict it. If God exists (and in my personal opinion He does) He could if he so desired tell me my fortune by looking at the stars, but He is omniscient and would have no such need of such an obscure source."

"well i allways thought that astronomy was bullshit. THEN i watched an episode of "Penn and Teller's Bullshit" on the armagedon and astronomy and decided astronomy is void."

"Im not really sure about how i feel because the charts and stuff describe my relationship with my friends pretty well but i just find it hard to believe in something like that."

"I believe that astrology is not that accurate, however I think that there are some things that are true. Such as some of the descriptions for the sins of the zodiac"

"I was raised that only god has the power to know what our future holds, but I beleive life is always changing and that there is not set way of life so astrology could not pin point a future that's constantly changing."

"I read my horoscope everyday and it sometimes pertains to my life but I don't think it can predict my future. I think our actions guide what happens to us and that astrology has a lot to do with superstition."

"I don't think the stars have any relation to people's future, personality, etc. depending on their birthdate. Astrology isn't always right and gets too general."

"I just believe that i am the only person who can change my future so no one or nothing can tell my future."

"i chose neutral because i'm not sure wether or not it can make accurate predictions about my future. it seems silly to believe it can, but i don't want to say it doesn't."

"I don't think the same prediction based on stars could beapplied to eveyone born in a certain time period and be accurate."

"I am a believer in God and I believe that He has my future in his hands."

"i don't really see how the alignment of the stars when a person was born has any affect on personality."

There was one unsolicited student comment after the sun-sign astrology lecture:

"I found my sign to be more accurate when looking at the month before, like you said in class. Very interesting."

References:

• A. Fraknoi, ed., "The Universe At Your Fingertips: An Astronomy Activity
  and Resource Notebook," Astronomical Society of the Pacific, p. K-2, 1995.
  (http://www.astrosociety.org/education/astro/act3/astrologyprint.html)
  "Clearly, those of us who love astronomy cannot just hope that the public's infatuation with astrology will go away. We must speak out whenever it is useful or appropriate--to discuss the shortcomings of astrology and the shaky ground it is based on. Those of us working with youngsters can use these ideas to develop a healthy skepticism in the students and encourage an interest in the real cosmos--the one of remote worlds and suns that are mercifully unconcerned with the lives and desires of the creatures on planet Earth. Let's not allow another generation of young people to grow up tied to an ancient fantasy, left over from a time when we huddled by the firelight, afraid of the night."


• H. Kuglak, "Deprogramming Student Attitudes Toward Astrology," The Physics Teacher, vol. 16, no. 3, pp. 165-167 (March 1978).
  "Nearly one-quarter of the students believed in astrology at the start of the semester... There were significantly higher percentages of female than male believers at the beginning of the courses..."
        "The study indicates that some deprogramming of student attitudes towards astrology is possible. However, it would be much more difficult to prove that there was a behavior modification."
        "There were 97% of the polled students who knew their zodiacal sign; the percentage at the end of the semester was 98%. As the course instructor, I decline any credit for the 1% increase!"


• M. C. LoPresto, "Tolerance for Astrology?" Astronomy Education Review, vol 1, no. 2, p. 125 (2003).
  (http://aer.noao.edu/cgi-bin/article.pl?id=41)
  "When is your birthday? Find your birthday on the ecliptic. Name the constellation the Sun is in or closest to on your birthday. Now compare how the Sun's location corresponds to the current astrological or zodiac signs for each date."