Death and Dying in Eastern England

Posted on May 22, 2011 by Clive D. Field

People of faith are marginally more likely to be comfortable discussing death in general and their own death in particular than those without a religion, and they are also rather more likely to have made end-of-life plans. However, the differences between the two groups are relatively slight and certainly less than many believers might have expected.

These are among the headline findings from a research report (and associated data tables) on Attitudes towards Death and Dying in the East of England which was released on 20 May by Ipsos MORI, who undertook the study on behalf of NHS East of England.

Fieldwork was conducted between 26 March and 20 July 2010 by means of a self-completion postal questionnaire sent to 2,500 randomly selected addresses in the East of England, of which 693 (28%) were returned by adults aged 16 and over after two reminders.

For comparative purposes, questionnaires were also mailed, on the same timescale, to 1,250 addresses in the rest of England, 332 (27%) of which responded.

In both instances, statistics were weighted by standard demographics to help rectify for non-response, especially to correct the disproportionate number of replies from women, older people and those not in employment.

Asked how comfortable they felt about talking about death generally, 76% of those affiliating to a faith or belief system said they felt comfortable. For atheists and those with no religion the figure was 69% (64% for those with no religion alone).

The gap narrowed somewhat in respect of conversing about respondents’ own deaths. 71% of those with a faith felt comfortable about discussing that scenario against 69% of atheists and those with no religion combined (or 65% for those with no religion alone).

38% of East of England residents said that they had discussed with somebody their spiritual or religious preferences for end-of-life. This was more than had communicated their wishes for dying with dignity (37%), preferred place of death (29%), privacy and peace (26%) and medical and nursing care (26%).

55% in the East of England stated that they had not discussed their spiritual or religious preferences, fewer than in the rest of England (66%).

Unsurprisingly, those in the East of England who were comfortable discussing their own death were more likely to have expressed their spiritual or religious preferences for end-of-life (47%) than those who were uncomfortable (21%). But the same was true for all other end-of-life wishes.

People in the East of England who said they did not subscribe to a religion were actually more likely to have discussed their spiritual or religious preferences (48%) compared to those who had a faith (36%).

On the other hand, religious individuals were slightly more advanced than the irreligious in making practical end-of-life arrangements (such as a will or specifying funeral requirements). Whereas 26% of those affiliating to a religion had made no such provision, the figure was 34% for atheists and those without a religion (or 28% for the latter alone).

In planning for end-of-life care, 10% in the East of England (and 13% in the rest of England) said they would seek information from a religious or spiritual advisor. This was a much lower proportion than would turn to family or friends (54%), a doctor (47%), a solicitor (20%), a nurse (17%) or even the internet (11%).

The proportion willing to look to a religious or spiritual advisor was little more (12%) even among the 78% of East of England residents who claimed to have a religion. So, religious professionals seem to be largely excluded from longer-term preparations for end-of-life. A mere 1% of atheists and those without a faith were willing to seek such advice.

The quantitative report from the survey, including most topline results for both the East of England and the remainder of the country, is available at:

http://www.ipsos-mori.com/Assets/Docs/Publications/attitudes-towards-dying-2011-final-report.pdf

The data tables for the East of England alone, with breaks by standard demographics and various death-related variables, can be found at:

http://www.ipsos-mori.com/Assets/Docs/Publications/attitudes-towards-dying-2011-tables.pdf

Posted in Survey news | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Influence of the Bible

Posted on May 14, 2011 by Clive D. Field

In this special year of celebration (the quatercentenary of the Authorized or King James Version), a slim majority (54%) of Britons think the Bible is an important book, even though nearly seven in eight of them freely admit that they do not read it that often.

This is one of the principal findings from an opinion poll released on 13 May and carried out by ComRes for the Bible Society. Fieldwork was conducted online on 1-3 April 2011, among a representative sample of 2,379 adults aged 18 and over throughout Great Britain.

Asked how significant the Bible was to them personally, 8% said that it is a very important book, which they claimed to read often and which enriched their lives. The proportion was highest with 18-34s (14%), Londoners (17%), and those from the public sector (15%, virtually twice the figure for the private sector).

46% described it as an important book, which they read infrequently but which had some valuable things to say. The percentage rose steadily with age, from 29% among the 18-24s to 61% for the over-65s.

42% considered the Bible to be unimportant, not really affecting their lives, with a regional high of 55% in Wales and a low of 32% in London, albeit the over-65s (29%) recorded the smallest figure for any demographic sub-group.

4% branded the Bible a dangerous book which should be ignored, the 18-24s (12%) particularly taking this line.

Rather fewer than the 54% acknowledging the significance of the Bible felt that knowledge of it was important in appreciating specific aspects of daily life. 48% judged it relevant to an understanding of the visual arts, 46% to classic English literature, 45% to British history, 42% to everyday phrases, 29% to politics, and 24% to classical music. In other words, majorities of varying sizes consistently said that the Bible was not relevant in these contexts.

Actual knowledge of the Bible was measured by asking respondents to identify the source of five quotations, all of which came from the Bible. While 56% knew that ‘my brother’s keeper’ (Genesis 4:9) derived from the Bible, only 19% could identify it as the source of ‘the writing on the wall’ (Daniel 5:5-6), 10% ‘filthy lucre’ (1 Timothy 3:3), 9% ‘eat, drink and be merry’ (Luke 12:19), and 7% ‘a drop in the bucket’ (Isaiah 40:15).

Between one-fifth and one-half could not even guess the origin of each quotation, but others happily plumped for the offered options of Shakespeare, Charles Dickens, The Beatles or Tony Blair. Biblical literacy was especially low among the under-34s and manual workers, and high among the over-65s and AB social group.

The full data tables from the poll, disaggregated by gender, age, social grade, region and employment sector, are available at:

http://www.comres.co.uk/biblesocietyinfluenceofthebiblemay11.aspx

These results come as Bible Society in England and Wales and the Scottish Bible Society prepare to launch The People’s Bible.  This will be touring the UK between June and November, providing the opportunity to re-engage or engage with the Bible for the first time. See:

http://www.thepeoplesbible.org

Posted in News from religious organisations, Survey news | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Ipsos Global @dvisor Surveys Religion

Posted on May 11, 2011 by Clive D. Field

Forced to choose, no fewer than 71% of Britons contend that ‘religious beliefs promote intolerance, exacerbate ethnic divisions, and impede social progress in developing and developed nations alike’. Only 29% say the polar opposite, that ‘religion provides the common values and ethical foundations that diverse societies need to thrive in the 21st century’.

This ranks Britain fifth equal in terms of negativity towards religion in a league table of 23 countries surveyed in Wave 14 of the Ipsos Global @dvisor omnibus poll. Fieldwork was conducted online between 7 and 23 September 2010 among a total of more than 18,000 adults aged 16-64, including 1,002 in Great Britain.

The weighted average for all countries produced a pro-religion vote of 48% and an anti one of 52%, but there was wide variation in the national scores. The negative list was headed by several Western European countries, Sweden (81%), Belgium (79%), France (76%) and Spain (75%).

The pro-religion vote was led by Muslim Saudi Arabia (92%) and Indonesia (91%), with the United States one of several countries around the two-thirds mark. In general, developing economies displayed a higher level of support for the positive role of religion than did the advanced economies of the G8 and Europe.

The topic was investigated by Ipsos in the run-up to the Munk Debates on Religion, between the Roman Catholic Tony Blair and the atheist Christopher Hitchens, in Toronto on 26 November 2010, and a summary report of the findings was released on that date. It can be downloaded from:

http://www.ipsos-na.com/download/pr.aspx?id=10209

The same survey also included three other questions on religion, posed on behalf of Reuters News, although the results were not published until 25 April 2011. The full data tables for these questions, with breaks by various demographics, are available at:

http://www.ipsos-na.com/download/pr.aspx?id=10669

Across all 23 countries, 51% believed in God or a supreme being, 18% disbelieved and 30% were undecided. Disbelievers numbered 34% in Great Britain, exceeded only by France (39%), Sweden (37%) and Belgium (36%). The proportion was a mere 7% in the United States and 3% or less in Brazil, India, Indonesia, South Africa and Turkey. British disbelievers were especially concentrated among men (43%) and persons with a high household income (42%).

Globally, 51% believed in some form of life after death, albeit not necessarily in heaven and hell, while 23% stated that one simply ceased to exist and 26% were uncertain. In Britain far fewer adults (37%) believed (13% in heaven or hell, 5% in reincarnation, 19% in some other form of afterlife), 31% regarded the present life as the end, and 32% expressed no opinion.

Britons who said that there definitely was no afterlife were more numerous than in 16 other countries, being surpassed by South Korea and Spain (40%), France (39%), Japan (37%) and Belgium (35%) and equalled by China. Disbelievers were again more likely to be found among men (39%) and the wealthiest households (40%).     

Asked about the origins of human life, 41% in all countries were evolutionists, 28% creationists and 31% unclear. In Britain evolutionists outnumbered creationists by more than four to one (55% against 12%), although there were fewer than in Sweden (68%), Germany (65%), China (64%), Belgium (61%) and Japan (60%), with the British proportion the same as in France and Hungary.

Creationists were in a majority in only four countries (Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa and Turkey), three of them predominantly Muslim. The most highly-educated Britons were the most pro-evolution (69%), but the converse was not true. Indeed, creationists never exceeded 14% in any British demographic sub-group. 34% of all Britons were undecided on the issue.    

The results for this question on the origins of human life may be compared with the near-contemporaneous statistics from an Ipsos MORI poll for the Department for Business, Innovation & Skills, which approached the topic from two contrasting perspectives. See our coverage at:

http://www.brin.ac.uk/news/?p=1232

It should be noted that, as is common with online panels, the sample excluded the cohort of over-65s, since these are still generally underrepresented among online users. As this is precisely the cohort which, in other surveys, tends to come out as the most religious, then it follows that the Ipsos Global @dvisor data are likely to underestimate somewhat the nation’s religiosity.

Posted in Religion in public debate, Survey news | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Public Attitudes to Science

Posted on May 8, 2011 by Clive D. Field

Although not anti-science, people with a more religious or spiritual outlook on life are disproportionately more likely to highlight the limitations of science and to express reservations about the intentions of scientists. They are also the least convinced of the economic benefits of investing in science and that the Government has sufficient control over science and technology.

These are some of the principal conclusions drawn from a segmentation analysis which was applied to a very detailed survey of public attitudes to science undertaken on behalf of the Department for Business, Innovation & Skills and published on 2 May. Fieldwork was conducted by Ipsos MORI through face-to-face interviews with 2,103 adults aged 16 and over in the UK between 11 October and 19 December 2010.

The religious outlook of the sample was determined not by direct questioning about their religious affiliation, beliefs or self-assessed religiosity but on the basis of their responses to a series of attitude statements impacting on science.

First of these (Q.16.2) was the statement ‘we depend too much on science and not enough on faith’. 29% agreed with this proposition, 46% disagreed, and 25% were neutral or did not know what to think. Particularly high levels of agreement were recorded among the 65-74s (37%), the over-75s (52%), BMEs (46%), the DE social group (40%), those with no educational qualifications (46%), those with no internet access (48%), and the cluster voicing concerns about science (45%). Dissentients were especially prominent among the AB social group (57%), those with a higher education (54%), readers of broadsheet newspapers (59%), Scots (52%), those informed about science (54%), and confident engagers with science (72%).

The next topic (Q.16.3) was whether ‘human beings have evolved from other animals’. 67% said that they had, 17% disagreed, and 15% expressed no firm opinion. Strongholds of evolutionism, where three-quarters or more agreed, were located among the 45-64s, the ABs, Scots, those with a higher education, readers of broadsheet newspapers, and confident and distrustful engagers with science. Creationism found greatest favour with BMEs (39%).     

Q.16.10 asked about the origins of life on earth in a different way, and was obviously deliberately separated from Q.16.3. It produced a much finer balance of public opinion, a useful illustration of the sensitivity of popular attitudes to variant question-wording. The statement was ‘God created the earth and all life in it’. 39% agreed, 37% disagreed, with 24% undecided. A strongly divine creation line was taken by the over-75s (62%), BMEs (74%), DEs (50%), Northern Irish (51%), those with no educational qualifications (52%), those without internet access (54%), those with concerns about science (59%), and those indifferent about it (50%). Dissentients concentrated among readers of broadsheet newspapers (47%) and the three most pro-science clusters (late adopters, confident engagers, and distrustful engagers).

Q.16.5 sought agreement with the statement ‘we are put on earth for a purpose’. 57% agreed with this view, 20% disagreed, and 23% took no position. The highest level of agreement was voiced by the over-75s (67%), BMEs (82%), DEs (66%), those with no educational qualifications (65%), those with no internet access (69%), and those concerned about science (74%). Respondents less likely to believe that there was a purpose to their existence included men, the ABs, and those with a higher education – all on 27% – and readers of broadsheet newspapers (29%), confident engagers with science (31%), and distrustful engagers with science (35%).

While this survey resurfaces the age-old tensions between science and religion, and demonstrates their linkage with ethnicity, it does not indicate that the UK is a particularly faith-based society. Asked unprompted in Q.1 which two or three issues in life were most important to them personally, only 3% mentioned their religion or faith, the same as in 2005 when the question was first put. The highest proportion (6%) was recorded among the over-75s and BMEs. Overall, friends and family (47%) topped the list of choices, with health on 25%, financial security on 20%, and career/employment on 16%.

The full data tables from this survey (with an unusually wide range of breaks by gender, age, ethnicity, working status, social grade, education, children in household, internet access, newspaper readership, country, region, science awareness and clustering) are available at:

http://www.ipsos-mori.com/Assets/Docs/Polls/ipsos-mori-pas-2011-computer-tables.pdf

The segmentation analysis is discussed in chapter 8 of the main report on the survey, which can be found at:

http://www.ipsos-mori.com/Assets/Docs/Polls/sri-pas-2011-main-report.pdf

Posted in Official data, Survey news | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Amending the Act of Settlement

Posted on May 1, 2011 by Clive D. Field

Last Friday’s royal wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton, now the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, has rekindled public debate on Britain’s monarchical succession laws.

Attention has mostly focused on the primogeniture rule, a throw-back to feudal times, whereby the British throne is inherited by the eldest son of the monarch, regardless of whether there is a first-born female child.

However, a YouGov poll for today’s The Sunday Times also enquired about (without mentioning it explicitly by name) the Act of Settlement 1701, which bars Roman Catholics, or persons married to a Catholic, from acceding to the throne.

The survey was conducted online on 28 and 29 April 2011 among a representative sample of 2,280 Britons aged 18 and over. The detailed results appear on p. 10 of the data tables at:

http://today.yougov.co.uk/sites/today.yougov.co.uk/files/st20110501.pdf

43% of respondents wanted to see the law amended to permit a Catholic to ascend the throne, while 36% favoured the status quo and 21% expressed no opinion on the subject.

Pressure for change was strongest among current Labour voters (51%) and Scots (52%), with opposition coming disproportionately from Conservatives (49%) and the over-60s (44%).

These figures are superficially in marked contrast to those recorded in another recent YouGov study, for Prospect magazine on 1-2 February 2011, which employed somewhat different question-wording in that a) it spoke only of a law prohibiting a monarch from marrying a Catholic and b) it sought views on the repeal (as distinct from amendment) of that law.

In the Prospect poll 71% of Britons elected for repeal against 16% wanting the law to stay as it is, a reforming margin of +55% compared with just +7% in The Sunday Times investigation. See our earlier coverage at: http://www.brin.ac.uk/news/?p=1131

The difference between the two surveys might be explained in terms of the fact that in April there was a clear statement that the prospective monarch was a Roman Catholic, whereas in February there was no assumption that the monarch was necessarily a Catholic him/herself, only that he/she might wish to marry a Catholic.

Some might gloss these widely varying data as implying some kind of lingering anti-Catholic undercurrent in British society, others as recognition by the public of the monarch’s constitutional role as Supreme Governor of the Church of England, thereby precluding a Catholic from sitting on the throne.

To add to the complexity, an Ipsos MORI poll for The Tablet on 20-26 August 2010 found 44% of Britons thinking it wrong that members of the royal family who are or have been married to a Catholic should have to give up their right to become king or queen. 24% took the opposite line and the remainder were neutral or expressed no view. See: http://www.brin.ac.uk/news/?p=524

All in all, this is a good example of just how difficult it can be to measure popular attitudes to anything connected with religion, and how careful one must be to unpack the question-wording.

But will the public’s views, whatever they are, be heeded? Both the Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister have declared themselves as open to reform of the laws of monarchical succession, albeit the former’s support seems muted, more at the level of ‘in principle’, with realism about the difficulties of securing Commonwealth-wide approval. Already the Canadian authorities have indicated that they see the change as a low priority.

As for the Roman Catholic Church, there appears to be remarkably little pressure from the English and Welsh hierarchy to sweep away this 300-year-old statute against Catholic royals. The Scottish bishops seem keener for the Government to act, doubtless setting the issue within the context of a strong tradition of sectarianism in Scotland, which surfaced again recently in the Celtic parcel bombs affair.

Posted in Religion and Politics, Religion in public debate, Survey news | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Doing God in Politics

Posted on April 30, 2011 by Clive D. Field

‘We don’t do God’ was a famous intervention by Alastair Campbell, press secretary to former Prime Minister Tony Blair, when trying to protect his boss from an interviewer’s questioning about Blair’s Christian beliefs.

That separation of religion and politics is apparently the way the electorate likes things to be, according to a newly-released YouGov survey for the Policy Exchange think-tank. Fieldwork was conducted online on 10-12 March 2011 among 2,407 adult Britons.

Asked which two or three from a list of eleven values they most wanted a political party to reflect, a mere 3% chose religious faith, which came bottom. No more than 5% in any demographic sub-group picked this option, this figure being recorded by Conservative voters in 2010 and residents of the Midlands and Wales.

Economic responsibility topped the scales at 59%, followed by fairness (50%), family values (32%), traditional values (29%), equality (21%), freedom (20%), patriotism (17%), tolerance and diversity (14%), community (12%), and environmentalism (11%).

The data table will be found at:

http://today.yougov.co.uk/sites/today.yougov.co.uk/files/yg-archives-fairness-policyexchange260411.pdf

Posted in Religion and Politics, Survey news | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

YouGov@Cambridge Launched

Posted on April 30, 2011 by Clive D. Field

Last Thursday (28 April) marked the virtual launch of YouGov@Cambridge, a new research forum representing a collaboration between online pollsters YouGov and the University of Cambridge’s Department of Politics and International Studies (POLIS).

YouGov@Cambridge, directed by Dr Joel Faulkner Rogers, aims ‘to bring “headlights” to an increasingly complex world, where global trends are ever less about what superpowers and superbrands “do”, and ever more about “what the world thinks” – and how the two interact.’

Although the formal launch event, the YouGov Global Perspectives Conference, will not take place until 7-9 September 2011, in London and Cambridge, YouGov@Cambridge has already begun to release interim results from new surveys, a substantial archive of which can be viewed at:

http://www.yougov.polis.cam.ac.uk/archive

Many of the data on the archive site derive from an online poll conducted among an unweighted sample of 19,104 Britons aged 18 and over between 13 and 22 April 2011, but most questions appear to have been put to sub-samples. The topics covered are wide-ranging, including various items of religious interest.

For instance, 77% of respondents thought that Britain had become less religious during the past thirty years, rising to 83% of men, 84% of the over-55s and 86% of Scots. Just 6% said that Britain had become more religious, with 9% seeing no difference and 8% expressing no opinion. 66% considered that the country had become less moral over the same period.

However, only 10% overall thought that shifts in attitudes towards religion had been the biggest single change since 1981, compared with 22% citing altered opinions of ethnic minorities, 19% of the environment, and 14% of women’s role in society. The principal exception was in Scotland, where (at 18%) religious change was in second place, after environment.

Looking ahead to events which might happen during the next forty years, a mere 1% anticipated that Jesus Christ would return to earth. Science fiction beliefs were slightly more popular, with 8% expecting evidence to be found of life elsewhere in the universe and 3% forecasting that contact would be made with aliens.

Curiously, despite the abolition in 2008 of the ancient common law offences of blasphemy and blasphemous libel in England and Wales, 20% of adults stated that blasphemy is always morally wrong and an additional 26% usually so. The combined figure reached 60% for the over-55s. 28% found blasphemy to be morally acceptable, while 15% said that it depended upon the circumstances and 12% had no views.

An equally surprising 20% claimed that the Church of England was very important in defining Britishness and a further 29% said that it was fairly important in this respect. The aggregate of 49% was highest among women, the over-55s and in England (just 18% of Scots agreed that the Anglican establishment was a key facet of Britishness).

Among a list of ten potential embodiments of the British way of life, tolerance of all religious faiths came eighth (at 37%, rising to 47% in multicultural London) and St Paul’s Cathedral bottom (at 30%, predictably ranging from 10% of Scots to 45% of Londoners).

Staying with inter-faith matters, 71% of Britons agreed with the proposition that, after the 9/11 attacks, there is now a real clash of cultures between Islam and the West, which continues to cause trouble. This view was most strongly held by men (75%), the over-55s (82%) and residents of northern England (76%). 12% dismissed such a clash as a myth and 17% gave other or no answers.

Following on, 57% agreed that Islamic groups were more likely than other faiths to support violence on religious grounds, and this was especially true of men (66%) and the over-55s (69%). 15% disagreed and 19% were neutral. On the other hand, 68% accepted that all religious communities have some extremists who support violence against others, 15% dissenting.

Similarly, 62% identified Islamist extremism as a major international threat to Britain and a further 26% a minor threat. A mere 2% regarded it as no threat at all, including 5% of the 18-34s and 7% of Scots. 9% did not know what to think.

Doubtless from the same motivation, 46% were unwilling to contemplate an Afghan-Islamic state as a solution to the Afghanistan conflict, although the question-wording for this item might be described as somewhat leading. Just 18% backed the option, with 37% undecided.

In general, 77% contended that ‘religion was a private matter and had no place in politics’.

The YouGov@Cambridge archive site also contains data from a Royal Wedding poll, undertaken on 26 and 27 April 2011 among 2,666 adults aged 18 and over. This posed one question of interest to BRIN: should the monarch continue to be Supreme Governor of the Church of England?

47% argued that the monarch should remain as head of the Established Church, with 29% against and 25% undecided. There was a simple majority in favour of the status quo among all demographic sub-groups except for the Scots, who voted 35% to 30% for abolition of the Supreme Governorship.

This post is almost entirely derived from the full computer tabulations in the online archive. Some headlines, with commentary by YouGov, also appear in the Royal Wedding Special report, published on 28 April and available at:

http://www.yougov.polis.cam.ac.uk/sites/yougov.polis.cam.ac.uk/files/YouGov_Royal_Wedding_Dossier.pdf

Posted in Religion and Politics, Survey news | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

By George!

Posted on April 23, 2011 by Clive D. Field

Today, 23 April, is St George’s Day, the traditionally accepted date of his Christian martyrdom in the fourth century AD. This remains the case in most diaries, even though the Anglican and Roman Catholic calendars have moved the English national saint’s feast day to 2 May this year, to avoid a clash with Holy Saturday (Easter being so late in 2011).

Concerted attempts have been made in recent years, including by some politicians and ecclesiastics, to raise the profile of St George and his day, as part of a more general campaign to celebrate a positive spirit of ‘Englishness’. Unfortunately, new surveys demonstrate that public consciousness of St George still remains quite low.

For example, in an online poll by Opinium Research conducted among 2,012 UK adults, only 48% of English residents could name the date of St George’s Day, even though 57% knew when St Patrick’s Day is (17 March).

This contrasted with four-fifths in Wales knowing the date of St David’s Day (1 March) and everybody in Northern Ireland being aware of when St Patrick’s Day falls. [Sources: Daily Express and Daily Mail, 23 April 2011]. 

Things were even worse in a survey by OnePoll for This England magazine. One in ten of the 2,000 English adults quizzed online thought that St David rather than St George was England’s patron saint. [Source: Daily Express, 18 April 2011].

Notwithstanding, 64% of Britons backed the Archbishop of York’s call for St George’s Day to be observed as a public holiday, in an online poll by ComRes last month for Premier Christian Media, among a sample of 2,064 adults.

The proportion rose to 71% among professing Christians and 69% for people living in England. The Welsh (45%) and Scots (28%) were less enthusiastic about the idea. [Sources: Church of England Newspaper and Church Times, 8 April 2011; and http://www.comres.co.uk].

For 2009 and 2010 polls about St George, see BRIN’s coverage at:

http://www.brin.ac.uk/news/?p=235

Posted in Survey news | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Threats to the European Union

Posted on April 18, 2011 by Clive D. Field

Islamist terrorism is viewed as the second greatest threat to the European Union (EU) over the next few years, according to a five-nation European poll conducted online by ICM Research for The Guardian between 24 February and 8 March 2011. The sample comprised 5,023 adults aged 18-64, including 1,001 in Great Britain.

Across the weighted aggregate of the five countries 33% were concerned about increasing government debt, 32% about Islamist terrorism, 26% about immigration from non-EU countries, 24% about political and civil unrest, and 21% about the growth of China’s economy.

But in France and Poland Islamist terrorism was the number one worry, at 34% and 38% respectively. Germany also stood on 34%, Spain on 30%, with Britain (at 25%) the least anxious about Islamist terrorism. Even so, it was still the third major concern for Britons, after immigration from non-EU countries (33%) and rising government debt (32%).

For the topline national results, see table 22 of the dataset at:

http://www.icmresearch.co.uk/icmresearch/files/pdfs/guardian_march_european_poll.pdf

Posted in Religion and Politics, Survey news | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Church Buildings Surveyed

Posted on April 18, 2011 by Clive D. Field

The National Churches Trust (NCT, formerly the Historic Churches Preservation Trust, established in 1953) has today published a 72-page report on its survey of the UK’s estimated 47,000 places of Christian worship.

The study was conducted between 16 April and 28 July 2010, with the assistance of McKinsey & Company (on a pro bono basis). The report, and associated press release, will be found at:

http://nationalchurchestrust.org/explore-and-discover/national-survey.php

The survey was primarily completed online. Churches were either contacted directly, by email (in 17,000 cases) or post (3,200), or indirectly through 26 denominational networks (representing an additional 13,000 places of worship).

There were 7,200 useable responses, equivalent to 15% of the whole universe (not all of which was reached) or 22% of places of worship which were actually approached, directly or indirectly.

This is a not untypical and thus quite respectable ‘response rate’ for a survey using this type of methodology. Of this total of 7,200, 77% replied to an email, 11% by post and 12% self-registered online.

The key issue, of course, is how representative these replies were, especially bearing in mind the debate about potential non-response bias which took place in the columns of the Church Times when the survey was first announced. See BRIN’s coverage of the correspondence at http://www.brin.ac.uk/news/?p=165

NCT believes that responding churches did broadly reflect the UK scene in terms of denominational and geographical spread, building age and congregational size. A sample balancing process, rather cursorily explained in Appendix 1 (p. 55), was used to calculate national totals. 5,100 returns had sufficient data to be included in this balanced dataset.   

The scope of the survey was wide and often innovative, extending to the maintenance, funding and management of places of worship and their contribution to their local communities. A copy of the survey instrument (which ran to 45 questions) is reproduced in Appendix 2 (pp. 58-65) of the report.

Only a few key findings can be highlighted here:

  • Nine-tenths of churches were used for a religious service at least once a week, including 100% of Roman Catholic places of worship and virtually all Free Church buildings (about one in six Anglican churches had between one and three services a month)
  • Nearly four-fifths of churches were used for purposes other than worship, including community activities, but more so in unlisted than listed buildings and in urban than rural areas 
  • Community activities were most likely to be found in the Free Churches, followed by Anglican and Roman Catholic premises, with private events also being most prevalent in the Free Churches but more numerous in Catholic than Anglican places of worship 
  • Among non-worship events, young people’s activities (54%), educational services (43%), arts, music and dance (43%), and support and counselling services (42%) were most common 
  • The lack of volunteer time (33%), of suitable space (33%) and of suitable facilities (28%) were cited as the main impediments to further community engagement by the local church 
  • The average church building had 33 volunteering in it in any capacity, of whom 28 were from the congregation, suggesting a possible 1,600,000 individuals involved in church volunteering nationally, including 200,000 non-churchgoers 
  • 92% of churches were self-assessed as in good or fair condition, but 8% were deemed to be in a poor or very poor state, disproportionately listed buildings, with the average cost of urgent repairs estimated at £80,000 each

The report contains 42 charts, many of them including disaggregated results (for example, by church location). BRIN readers will probably feel the desire for more methodological detail and greater access to the raw data, and hopefully the NCT will be able to facilitate this in due course.

Posted in News from religious organisations, Survey news | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment