Document Type
Panel Presentation
Start Date
18-4-2019 2:00 PM
End Date
18-4-2019 3:15 PM
Keywords
conspiracies, society, government
Biography
Katie is a senior at Marshall University pursuing a double major in Anthropology and History, as well as a minor in Spanish.
Major
Anthropology and History
Advisor for this project
Marty Laubach
Abstract
Political conspiracy theories have been ingrained in American culture since the country’s birth. People have long distrusted government, central authority, and other institutional bodies of power. This capstone research project examines this long-standing distrust in relation to conspiracy theories and the social implications intertwined with such “uncommon” beliefs. This study is conducted through one-on-one interviews with students enrolled in a political conspiracies course at Marshall University, a group containing both believers and non-believers. An additional method of the study is a Qualtrics survey available to all enrolled students of Marshall University. The combination of interviews and survey responses will aid in examining people’s attitudes towards conspiracy theories and attitudes towards theorists. Questions pertaining to believers will address their methods and evidence for believing in alternate accounts, and questions pertaining to non-believers will aim to understand what draws them to this topic despite their skepticism of theories. The results will also shed light on people’s attitudes towards government and those in power, and any connection those attitudes might have to beliefs in conspiracy theories.
Stigmatized Suspicion: The Who, What, and Why of Political Conspiracy Theory
Political conspiracy theories have been ingrained in American culture since the country’s birth. People have long distrusted government, central authority, and other institutional bodies of power. This capstone research project examines this long-standing distrust in relation to conspiracy theories and the social implications intertwined with such “uncommon” beliefs. This study is conducted through one-on-one interviews with students enrolled in a political conspiracies course at Marshall University, a group containing both believers and non-believers. An additional method of the study is a Qualtrics survey available to all enrolled students of Marshall University. The combination of interviews and survey responses will aid in examining people’s attitudes towards conspiracy theories and attitudes towards theorists. Questions pertaining to believers will address their methods and evidence for believing in alternate accounts, and questions pertaining to non-believers will aim to understand what draws them to this topic despite their skepticism of theories. The results will also shed light on people’s attitudes towards government and those in power, and any connection those attitudes might have to beliefs in conspiracy theories.
