Year: 1991 Source: International Journal of Applied Philosophy, (1991), p.37-44 SIEC No: 20021435

This paper argues that responses to the 1986 General Social Science Survey’s questions about attitudes towards euthanasia, on the one hand, & about religious beliefs, ties & attendance, on the other, are sufficiently flawed by ambiguities, likely misinterpretations, & insufficiently precise wording, that conclusions drawn from the response are likely to give distorted results. The author argues that although responses suggest some connection between religion & views about euthanasia, much of what one might want to know concerning how Americans’ attitudes towards euthanasia might relate to their religious beliefs & practice is ambiguously presented.