Views about size of government among adults who say their holy scripture is the word of God and should be taken literally by sources of guidance on right and wrong (2014) Switch to: Sources of guidance on right and wrong among adults who say their holy scripture is the word of God and should be taken literally by views about size of government

% of adults who say their holy scripture is the word of God and should be taken literally who would rather have…

Sources of guidance on right and wrongSmaller government; fewer servicesBigger government; more servicesDependsDon't knowSample size
Religion56%39%2%3%6,154
Philosophy/reason36%60%1%3%373
Common sense42%53%2%3%2,716
Science24%74%< 1%2%361
Don't know44%36%6%14%207
Sample sizes and margins of error vary from subgroup to subgroup, from year to year and from state to state. You can see the sample size for the estimates in this chart on rollover or in the last column of the table. And visit this table to see approximate margins of error for a group of a given size. Readers should always bear in mind the approximate margin of error for the group they are examining when making comparisons with other groups or assessing the significance of trends over time. For full question wording, see the survey questionnaire.

Learn More: Smaller government; fewer services, Bigger government; more services