More than 90 percent of respondents said they celebrate Christmas, as opposed to any of the other religious holidays around this time of year. The phone poll of 808 adults was conducted by the Center for Survey Research at Ohio State University's College of Social and Behavioral Sciences. The survey has a margin of sampling error of 3.5 percent. Social scientists note that some responses are inflated when respondents provide what they view as socially desirable answers, which sometimes happens with questions about religious issues. Females and those older than 60 were shown in the survey to be more likely to believe the biblical account of Jesus' life.
College graduates are the most skeptical.
Riley was raised in the church and never questioned the basic teachings about Jesus. But she acknowledges that Jesus isn't always the focal point of Christmas. I think it's become a lot more commercial,'' said the East Side resident. Denbow acknowledges that he occasionally doubts his faith. But then I just look around and realize all this just couldn't appear out of nowhere,'' he said.