Putting Christ into Christmas

Posted on December 16, 2010 by Clive D. Field

In addition to ongoing daily Christmas polling for its own advent calendar (as covered in our previous post – http://www.brin.ac.uk/news/?p=739), YouGov has conducted a more extensive survey (running to 19 questions) into attitudes to and the observance of Christmas on behalf of The Sun. Fieldwork was conducted online on 12-13 December among a representative sample of 2,092 adult Britons aged 18 and over.

12% of respondents regarded the celebration of the birth of Jesus as the most important part of Christmas. Variations by demographic sub-groups were relatively small, except for age, the proportion being only 4% for the 18-24s and rising steadily throughout each cohort to reach 19% among the over-60s.

61% cited being around family as the most significant aspect of the festival, 12% having a break from work, and 5% exchanging presents. The overall distribution of replies was not dissimilar to that obtained in a recent GfK NOP study for The Children’s Society (http://www.brin.ac.uk/news/?p=744).

Notwithstanding this rather lowly 12% putting the birth of Jesus at the heart of Christmas, 51% of adults believed the traditional story of His birth to be largely true, albeit more than two in three of them did not think it had actually happened on Christmas Day itself.

This figure of 51% equates with those saying the birth of Jesus was relevant to their Christmas in ComRes/Theos polls in 2008 and 2010 (as mentioned at http://www.brin.ac.uk/news/?p=748).

However, more nuanced questioning in the 2008 survey produced a spread of statistics for belief in the historicity of key elements of the Biblical account: 56% that Jesus was born in Bethlehem, 37% that King Herod ordered the death of male infants, 34% that Jesus was born of a virgin called Mary, and 28% that angels visited shepherds to announce Christ’s birth. 

Belief in the traditional story of the birth of Jesus in the current YouGov poll was particularly affected by age. Whereas only 37% of those between 18 and 24 were believers, 64% of the over-60s were. One-quarter of the entire sample disbelieved the story in whole or large part, while 23% rejected all the options or did not know. 

24% of interviewees said they planned to attend a church service over the Christmas season. This was only two-thirds of the level reported in the 2010 ComRes/Theos poll. Even so, it is still likely to be aspirational rather than to reflect the actual level of churchgoing, which will be much lower.

The 24% sub-divided into 5% aiming to worship on Christmas Day itself, 11% on Christmas Eve, and 8% on some other occasion around Christmas. 67% had no intentions of going to church, and 9% were uncertain what they would be doing.

The highest levels of anticipated attendance were among over-60s (32%), Scots (32%), and Conservative voters (30%). The lowest were for Labour supporters (22%), men (21%), 18 to 39-year-olds (20%), residents of Northern England (20%), and the C2DE social group (18%).

To put this 5% into some kind of context, BRIN readers should note that 53% of YouGov respondents expected to log on to the Internet on Christmas Day, 31% to watch the Queen’s Speech, 17% to have sex, 15% to have an argument, and 10% to take exercise.

Some of these statistics will doubtless turn out to be exaggerations, also, but we will leave you to guess which one(s)!

The full data tables for this YouGov survey are available at:

http://today.yougov.co.uk/sites/today.yougov.co.uk/files/YG-Archives-Pol-Sun-Christmas-161210.pdf

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Pastor Jones Unwelcome in the UK

Posted on December 15, 2010 by Clive D. Field

According to media reports, and its own Facebook page, the English Defence League (EDL), a right-wing group opposed to so-called Muslim extremism, has apparently withdrawn its acceptance of an offer by the American Terry Jones to speak at an EDL rally in Luton (a place of growing conflict between Islamists and right-wingers) on 5 February 2011.

Jones, pastor of the Dove World Outreach Center in Gainesville (Florida), originally came to global prominence in late summer through his advocacy of an ‘International Burn a Koran Day’, to coincide with the ninth anniversary of 9/11.

We reported at that time (http://www.brin.ac.uk/news/?p=560) on the British public’s views about whether the US government should let Jones proceed with his plans or not (although, in practice, the US authorities were powerless to stop him). 

On learning of Jones’s intention to address an EDL rally, and potentially inciting animosity to British Muslims, Home Secretary Theresa May had been actively looking into the possibility of denying him entry to this country.

Her action prompted The Sun newspaper to commission YouGov to ask a representative online sample of 1,810 adult Britons aged 18 and over on 13 and 14 December 2010 whether Jones should or should not be allowed to enter the UK.

55% of the whole sample thought that Jones should not be permitted entry. Women (59%) were more opposed than men (50%), while hostility to Jones increased steadily with age, from 38% of 18-24s to 64% of the over-60s.

Regionally, the variation was from 50% in London and Northern England to 63% in Scotland. Those who voted Labour or Liberal Democrat in this year’s general election were slightly more inclined to want Jones banned from the country than Conservatives.

32% overall considered that Jones should be admitted to the UK, with men (42%) markedly more in favour than women (22%). Other demographic differences were much smaller, even age (the over-60s, for example, being just 8% less in favour of Jones being allowed into the UK than the 18-24s).

However, the latter age cohort was evidently not very knowledgeable about the matter since 26% were ‘don’t knows’, twice the national average for this question.

These replies do not necessarily give us clues as to the motivation of respondents. Thus, it is impossible to know whether those who supported Jones’s entry to the UK were simply upholding a generic principle of freedom of expression or actually agreed with his views.

Similarly, those who wanted him kept out of the UK may have objected to his opinions about Islam or just been concerned about the threat of civil disorder, including retaliatory protests by Muslims, in the event of Jones being granted entry.

The full data table for the survey is available at: 

http://today.yougov.co.uk/sites/today.yougov.co.uk/files/YG-Archives-Pol-Sun-TerryJones-141210.pdf

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‘Religious Swearwords’

Posted on December 13, 2010 by Clive D. Field

The ancient common law offences of blasphemy and blasphemous libel, which made it illegal to insult Christianity, were abolished two and a half years ago in England and Wales by Section 79 of the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008. This was partly because the Racial and Religious Hatred Act 2006 had created a new offence of inciting hatred against a person on the grounds of their religion.

Notwithstanding, blaspheming, in the dictionary sense of talking impiously or profanely, remains a very common occurrence, not least in television programmes. As part of a more general study into the acceptability of swearwords, YouGov has recently gauged public reactions to the use of ‘hell’, ‘Jesus Christ’ (as an expletive) and 26 other words on television.

Fieldwork was conducted online on 7 and 8 December 2010 among a representative sample of 1,539 adults aged 18 and over, of whom 7% opted to skip the questions on swearing because they feared they would be too offensive.

‘Hell’ was widely regarded as an innocuous utterance, with 67% thinking that the word should be allowed in television programmes at any time. Indeed, from this perspective, it was the most acceptable of all 28 swearwords, being 9% ahead of ‘bloody’. Men (75%) and young persons aged 18-24 (79%) were most likely to take this line.

A further 29% of respondents (particularly women and the over-60s) were only comfortable with ‘hell’ being used after the 9 pm watershed, while a mere 2% wanted to see it banned from television altogether.

People were also fairly tolerant about the use of ‘Jesus Christ’, with 41% considering that the expression should be permitted on television at any time. Just ‘hell’, ‘bloody’, and ‘c**p’ (49%) were deemed more acceptable swearwords. Men (50%), the 18-24s (56%), the 25-39s (51%), and Liberal Democrat voters (47%) were especially relaxed about taking Christ’s name in vain in this way.

However, almost as many (37%) in the whole sample wanted ‘Jesus Christ’ solely to be allowed after 9 pm, rising to 41% with females and 42% of the over-60s. Another 19% (including 35% of the over-60s) wanted its use to be totally banned, which was a middling result, 13 words achieving a higher vote for prohibition and 14 a lower one.

Perhaps it is another mark of progressive secularization that ‘religious swearwords’ no longer seem to shock. And, in case you are wondering, it was not actually the word which has been immortalized in recent BBC Radio 4 spoonerisms which topped the list of public disapproval, although 56% certainly wanted to see that four-letter word totally banned from television. The prize dislike was a six-letter word with racial overtones (58%).

BRIN is, of course, a ‘family website’, so we will refrain from quoting more of this naughty language. The full data tables from this poll can be accessed at:  

http://today.yougov.co.uk/sites/today.yougov.co.uk/files/YG-Archives-YouGov-Swearing-131210.pdf

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ET

Posted on December 11, 2010 by Clive D. Field

It seems a fair bet that Steven Spielberg’s blockbuster 1982 film ET will be on the television schedules this Christmas, but how many of us actually believe in extra-terrestrials?

Some answers to the question can be found in a newly-released YouGov poll commissioned by the Royal Society as it nears the end of its 350th anniversary celebrations. The survey was conducted online on 1-4 October 2010, among a representative sample of 2,179 UK adults aged 18 and over, to gauge public attitudes to science.

Asked whether they believed extra-terrestrial life exists, 44% replied in the affirmative and 28% in the negative, with 28% uncertain. Believers were more numerous among men (55%) than women (34%). These figures actually constituted the two extremes of belief and disbelief. The next high was 51% for the 35-44s and the next low 39% in Northern Ireland.

Somewhat fewer (36%) considered that scientists should be actively searching for, and attempting to make contact with, extra-terrestrial life. Gender was again the main differentiator, the proportion rising to 46% among men and falling to 27% among women, although the lowest figure (24%) was in Northern Ireland. 46% of the whole sample disagreed with the proposition and 18% did not know.

A rather more nuanced picture of belief can be found in another YouGov study, for The Sun in July 2008. On that occasion, 42% of Britons said that there was definitely or possibly life beyond earth in our solar system, 68% in our galaxy, and 79% in the rest of the universe. Also relevant in this context is our earlier post on aliens at http://www.brin.ac.uk/news/?p=167

The full data tables for the Royal Society poll are available at:

http://today.yougov.co.uk/sites/today.yougov.co.uk/files/YG_Archives_Life_ColmanGetty_RoyalSoc_Science_041010.pdf

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YouGov’s Advent Calendar

Posted on December 2, 2010 by Clive D. Field

Last Sunday, 28 November, marked the start of Advent and thus the beginning of the ecclesiastical year in Western Christianity. Derived from the Latin Adventus, meaning coming, Advent has for Christians traditionally been a penitential season leading up to the birth of Jesus Christ on Christmas Day.

Perhaps one of the best-known manifestations of Advent today is the Advent calendar, in which doors, windows or drawers, often with a sweet (or even a toy) behind them, are opened day by day to build up the anticipation for Christmas. You might think this is a quintessentially British invention but, like many of our Christmas traditions, this practice originated in German-speaking Europe in the nineteenth century.

Initially, German Lutherans physically counted off the days until Christmas by drawing lines in chalk on their doors, lighting a candle or hanging religious images on the walls of their homes. Then came the public Advent wreath, hung for the first time in Hamburg in 1839, followed by the first hand-made Advent calendar in 1851 and by printed calendars from the 1900s. Advent calendars seem to have become common in Britain only since the Second World War.

According to today’s Daily Telegraph, ‘sales of Advent calendars have surged this year as parents try to inject a bit of tradition into Christmas’. John Lewis, one of Britain’s major retailers, reports that purchases of calendars in its stores have jumped by 150%. While some have religious themes, many are overtly secular, with a focus on excitement and pleasure.

However, the Advent calendar is being increasingly used (some might say hijacked) for other ends, including in the shape of virtual calendars on the internet. The Labour Party, for example, has just launched an Advent calendar in which each window opens to reveal what it calls a Coalition Government ‘broken promise’. Similarly, Scotland’s Violence Reduction Unit has produced a calendar in which each door leads to a fact relating to domestic abuse, which increases markedly over the festive period.

Appropriately for an online opinion polling company, YouGov has now initiated its own virtual Advent calendar for 2010, in which each daily Christmas stocking clicks through to a new piece of YouGov research into some aspect or other of Christmas. The first two stockings are now officially ‘opened’. The calendar can be found at:

http://today.yougov.co.uk/advent-calendar

The research for day 1 (fieldwork on 30 November and 1 December among 1,686 adult Britons) asked respondents whether they planned to have an Advent calendar this year. 34% said they did, 60% that they did not, with 6% uncertain. Calendars are more popular with women (41%) than men (27%). Peak interest by age is with the 25-39s (46%), perhaps because many will be parents of young children, with the over-60s (20%) being least inclined to have a calendar. For more detail, see:

http://today.yougov.co.uk/sites/today.yougov.co.uk/files/YG-YouGov-Life-Christmas-Day1AdventCalendar-011210.pdf

Day 2’s question (1,934 adults interviewed on 1 and 2 December) enquired about favourite Christmas songs. Preferences were greatly influenced by age. Thus, while Fairytale of New York by Pogues topped the list with 20%, it was most popular with the 18-24s (30%) and least with the over-60s (9%). The latter were bigger fans of Bing Crosby’s White Christmas (16%), which was in second place, with 9%, overall. Slade’s Merry Xmas Everybody came third, with 8%. Cliff Richard was the best-known religious artiste, scoring 2% each with Saviour’s Day and Mistletoe and Wine. For the full list of songs, see:

http://today.yougov.co.uk/sites/today.yougov.co.uk/files/YG-YouGov-Life-Christmas-Day2ChristmasSong-021210.pdf

Although we will not be covering each day’s question(s), we will try to post about any which are particularly pertinent to the religious aspects of Christmas.

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Christmas Cards

Posted on November 26, 2010 by Clive D. Field

More than one in three (36%) of us Brits will be sending fewer Christmas cards this year than we did five years ago, new online research from Oxfam reveals today. This equates to 141 million fewer cards in 2010 than in 2005 (882 million, down from 1.02 billion in 2005).

Only 12% of Britons expect to send more Christmas cards this year than five years ago, with 43% sending about the same number. Moreover, while 91% of those aged 55 and over plan to send Christmas cards this year, just 72% of 18-24-year-olds intend to do so. Rather more women (42%) than men (30%) will be sending fewer cards this Christmas.

Saving money (22%), environmental concerns (22%) and postal costs (21%) are cited as the main reasons for sending fewer or no cards this season. But almost one in five (18%) think Christmas cards are no longer an important part of the festival, and 13% of those respondents will send online and email greetings instead.

The survey was conducted by YouGov among a representative online sample of 2,328 Britons aged 18 and over between 29 October and 1 November 2010.

Meanwhile, Oxfam itself reports that sales of its own Christmas cards in its 700 shops and online store are down 14% so far this year. The charity is dependent upon revenue from its cards to the tune of £1 million annually, with 42p in every £1 of sales going to its humanitarian work around the world.

For further detail, see Oxfam’s press release at:

http://www.oxfam.org.uk/applications/blogs/pressoffice/2010/11/26/oxfam-reveals-141-million-fewer-christmas-cards-will-be-sent-this-year/?v=media

Forty years ago, in 1970, according to Gallup, 91% of adults sent Christmas cards to friends and relatives and 9% not. The standard history of the Christmas card is by George Buday, originally published in 1954. Although there were forerunners, the first British card is credited to Henry Cole in 1843.

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Archbishop of Canterbury and the Coalition Government

Posted on November 22, 2010 by Clive D. Field

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, recently publicly criticized the Coalition Government’s plans to make the long-term unemployed take part in compulsory work placements, with those who refused at risk of having their jobseeker’s allowance stopped.

The Archbishop said that it would be wrong to put further pressure on the unemployed, thereby pushing them into a ‘downward spiral of uncertainty, even despair’. His intervention prompted memories of the Church of England’s conflicts with the Thatcher government in the 1980s.

On behalf of The Sun, which appears not to have reported the findings, YouGov asked a representative sample of 1,936 adult Britons aged 18 and over whether they agreed with the Archbishop’s remarks. Interviews were conducted online on 8 and 9 November.

Only 23% of the sample sided with Williams, against 64% who disagreed with him and 13% who expressed no opinion. Those who agreed were somewhat more likely to be men, aged 40-59, manual workers (C2DEs), Londoners and Scots.

However, the widest variation was by voting intention. Just 5% of Conservatives and 14% of Liberal Democrats (the two parties in government) shared the Archbishop’s opinion, compared with 47% of Labour supporters. 88% of Conservatives and 76% of Liberal Democrats disagreed with him.

Regardless of their views on this particular issue, respondents were also asked whether it was right or wrong for senior clergy to comment on political matters. A slight majority (54%) wanted the Church to keep out of the political arena, including two-thirds of Conservatives.

By contrast, 34% of the whole sample (45% of Labourites and 41% of Londoners) considered that the Church has an important moral contribution to make in the political world, with 12% undecided (including 23% of those aged 18-24).   

The full data table may be consulted at:

http://today.yougov.co.uk/sites/today.yougov.co.uk/files/YG-Archives-Pol-Sun-CompulsoryWork-091110.pdf

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Evolution Versus Creation

Posted on November 19, 2010 by Clive D. Field

Next week will see the 151st anniversary of the publication of Charles Darwin’s book On the Origin of Species. The debate between evolutionists and creationists in explaining the beginnings of the human race has been raging ever since, especially as regards what should be taught in schools.

A new YouGov poll, released today and commissioned by Prospect magazine, affords insight into the current state of public opinion on the subject. It was conducted online on 25-26 October 2010 among a representative sample of 2,651 Britons aged 18 and over.

65% of adults now consider that Darwin’s theory of evolution is the most likely explanation for the origin of humans. The proportion is higher among men than women and the ABC1 than the C2DE social group. It is especially large among Liberal Democrat voters (74%).

This majority of two-thirds in favour of evolution was also reported in other recent studies, by Angus Reid Public Opinion in July 2010 (68%) and Populus in August 2010 (67%).

By contrast, only 9% of YouGov respondents hold to the account of creation as given in the Bible, ranging from 7% to 13% according to demographic sub-groups. A further 12% consider there has been some process of intelligent design, while 13% are unsure what to think.

These results represent a doubling in the number of believers in evolution since January 1973, when they amounted to 32% in a Gallup Poll. Creationists seem to have been expressly measured for the first time in August 1995, again by Gallup, when they stood at 29%. Later surveys can be traced through the BRIN database, but watch out for variants in question-wording.

The data table for the YouGov/Prospect question is available at:

http://today.yougov.co.uk/sites/today.yougov.co.uk/files/YG-Archives-Pol-Prospect-Evolution-181110.pdf

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Who Celebrates Christmas?

Posted on November 14, 2010 by Clive D. Field

The number of shopping days to Christmas is fast reducing. There have already been several market research surveys trying to assess likely spending patterns this season, especially in the light of the national economic situation.

YouGov has just added to these surveys, with a SixthSense online poll of 2,294 UK citizens between 1 and 3 November. It is unusual in terms of the breadth of demographic analysis: by gender, age, marital status, terminal education age, social grade, region, housing tenure, household size, and gross household income. The resultant 56 pages of tables are available at:

http://today.yougov.co.uk/sites/today.yougov.co.uk/files/Christmas_spending_results.pdf

While the questions majored on Christmas spending intentions, the first asked ‘Do you celebrate Christmas?’ 95% of the sample said that they did and 5% not.

Some non-celebrants were to be found in all demographic sub-groups with a meaningful number of respondents, apart from residents of Northern Ireland (who were 100% observant).

However, non-celebrants were particularly numerous among: those with a gross household income of under £10,000 (17%), people who lived alone (12%), men aged 40-54 (11%), Londoners (11%), and the divorced (9%).

The survey did not enquire into knowledge of, attitudes to and the observance of the religious aspects of Christmas. But there will doubtless be an enquiry or two along these lines before we reach 25 December.

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Youtube and Radical Muslim Clerics

Posted on November 9, 2010 by Clive D. Field

Last week Roshonara Choudhry, a 21-year-old British Muslim woman, was convicted at the Old Bailey of the attempted murder, on 14 May, of Stephen Timms, Labour Member of Parliament for East Ham, in retaliation for his endorsement of the Iraq War.

During her trial it emerged that she had become radicalized by watching the teachings of extremist Islamic preachers on Youtube, including the Yemen-based Anwar al-Awlaki, dubbed the ­‘spiritual leader’ of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.

The case prompted YouGov to include a question in its latest online poll for the Sunday Times, conducted on 4 and 5 November among a representative sample of 1,954 adult Britons aged 18 and over.

Noting that Youtube had voluntarily withdrawn al-Awlaki’s speeches from its site, YouGov asked its panelists whether Youtube should also be made to remove all speeches and videos from other Islamic clerics suspected of radicalizing British Muslims.

Three-quarters of respondents felt that Youtube should do this, with 14% saying it should not and 12% having no clear opinion. Conservative voters (82%) were more inclined to favour removal of the speeches than supporters of the other two main parties, and women somewhat more than men.

However, as with most British polls touching on Islam and Muslims, the most significant demographic trend was by age. Whereas 57% of 18-24s backed the removal of the offending speeches, the proportion climbed steadily through the other age cohorts, to reach 87% among the over-60s. Conversely, opponents of the ban decreased from 23% to 7% across the age spectrum.

Full data tabulations for this survey, which also included a battery of other questions relating to security and terrorism matters, will be found at:

http://today.yougov.co.uk/sites/today.yougov.co.uk/files/YG-Archives-Pol-ST-results-051110_0.pdf

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