Monthly Archives: August 2010

Gallup on the Importance of Religion

A Gallup press release issued today (31 August) reports on surveys which the organization carried out in 114 countries during 2009 into the importance of religion in everyday life. Telephone or face-to-face interviews were conducted with approximately 1,000 adults in … Continue reading

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Scotland and the Pope

Pope Benedict XVI’s state and pastoral visit to Great Britain is almost upon us, and there remains much speculation in the national and international print, broadcast and online news media about the extent of opposition which he will encounter while he … Continue reading

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Muslim Integration in Scotland

The British Council Scotland has recently released a report on Muslim Integration in Scotland, by Amy Homes, Chris McLean and Lorraine Murray, and based upon quantitative and qualitative research undertaken by Ipsos MORI Scotland. The report, commissioned under the auspices … Continue reading

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Who Rates Religious Education?

The 2010 A Level and GCSE results season has now been and gone. The number of candidates taking religious studies at both levels has steadily risen over the years (see http://www.brin.ac.uk/figures/#RSExams), but how worthwhile do Britons as a whole think … Continue reading

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Faith Schools

ICM Research has just posted on its website the results of a ‘faith schools survey’ undertaken by telephone between 25 and 27 June 2010 among a representative sample of 1,003 adult Britons aged 18 and over. They were randomly selected from the … Continue reading

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Recent Academic Journal Articles

There follow brief reports of three recent articles in academic journals. These are subscription-based, with free access only available to institutional and personal subscribers. A pay-per-view option is also offered via the relevant publisher websites. Journal of Beliefs & Values, … Continue reading

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Doctors and End-of-Life Decisions

Terminally-ill patients would be well-advised to find out the religious beliefs of their doctor, according to print and online news media reports of research showing the effect of faith on a doctor’s willingness to make ethically controversial decisions that could … Continue reading

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Religious Affiliation and Political Attitudes: Findings from the British Election Study 2009/10

The British Election Study (BES) 2009/10 has recently made available online for wider usage survey datasets relating to the May general election. The BES has covered every general election, and thus gauged the political choices and attitudes of nationally-representative samples of the British electorate, since 1964 and more information on both the current and previous studies is available at http://bes.utdallas.edu/2009/. Continue reading

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Witchcraft

Gallup today (25 August) issued a press release showing that in 18 countries in sub-Saharan Africa in 2009 belief in witchcraft averaged 55% of adults aged 15 and over, somewhat higher than the 37% recorded in a similar Pew Center … Continue reading

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Catholic Adoption

On 19 August the Charity Commission announced its decision not to consent to the request from the charity Catholic Care to amend its charitable objects to restrict its adoption services to heterosexual prospective parents only. This followed a High Court … Continue reading

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