An analysis by the Pew Research Center finds a great deal of consistency across polls in what the public believes about the origins of life and how the issue should be taught in the schools. While solid majorities believe that evolution should be taught in science classes, roughly two-thirds of Americans favor adding creationism to the school curriculum.
Surveys are also fairly consistent in their estimates of how many Americans believe in evolution or creationism. Approximately 40%-50% of the public accepts a biblical creationist account of the origins of life, while comparable numbers accept the idea that humans evolved over time. The wording of survey questions generally makes little systematic difference in this division of opinion.
Opinions on the theory of “intelligent design,” however, are far more complex, making it difficult to determine how many Americans subscribe to this view of life's origins. In part, this reflects the public's lack of familiarity with the concept of intelligent design, which holds that Darwin's theory of natural selection is inadequate in explaining the development of complex life forms.