Channel 4 Britishness Poll

Posted on March 25, 2012 by Clive D. Field

Although, as reported by BRIN on 18 February 2012, 56% of adults think that Britain is a Christian country and 61% that it should be, only 4% (and no more than 8% in any demographic sub-group, the peak being among over-65s) consider that not being a Christian stops people from being fully British.

This compares with not speaking English (59%), being born outside the UK (26%), not mixing with other groups (25%), not living in Britain (18%), having foreign-born parents (11%), not being white (9%), dressing differently (8%), and having an accent (7%).

This new finding is from an Ipsos MORI survey for Channel 4 in connection with the latter’s recently-broadcast two-part documentary Make Bradford British. Face-to-face interviews were conducted with 998 Britons aged 18 and over between 27 January and 5 February 2012. Data tables have now been posted online at:

http://www.ipsos-mori.com/Assets/Docs/Britishness%20tabs.PDF

Two other questions from the poll will also be of interest to BRIN readers:

  • During the past year 68% of respondents claimed to have regularly (monthly or more) mixed socially (outside work or school) with persons of a different religious belief, against 66% in the case of people from a different ethnic background, 90% from a different generation, and 62% of a different sexuality – inter-religious mixing was most pronounced among the 15-34s (74%), non-manuals (73%), graduates (75%), readers of broadsheet newspapers (79%), non-whites (83%), Londoners (88%), and those disagreeing that there were too many immigrants (80%).
  • 62% of Britons correctly identified the date of St George’s Day, when England’s patron saint is commemorated, albeit the proportion fell to only 49% of the 15-34s, 48% of the lowest (DE) social grade, and 32% of non-whites.

 

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Census Christians

Posted on February 15, 2012 by Clive D. Field

‘UK residents who think of themselves as Christian show very low levels of Christian belief and practice’ and ‘are overwhelmingly secular in their attitudes on a range of issues from gay rights to religion in public life’, according to research released yesterday (14 February 2012) by the Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science (UK).

The study was conducted for the Foundation by Ipsos MORI through face-to-face interviews with UK adults aged 15 and over between 1 and 7 April 2011, immediately after the decennial population census schedules had been completed, including the voluntary question on religious profession, which was being posed for the second time.

Ipsos MORI’s main questionnaire was directed to the 1,136 individuals (equivalent to 54% of the full screening sample of 2,107) who said that they were recorded as Christians in the census by the person completing the household schedule – or would have recorded themselves as Christians if they had answered the question themselves. The Foundation characterizes them as ‘Census-Christians’, and the following topline data relate exclusively to this sub-sample.

RELIGIOUS IDENTITY

45% regarded themselves as a religious person, but 50% did not. More nuanced answers emerged from another question in which 30% considered themselves to have strong religious beliefs and to be a Christian, 29% to be a Christian but not to have strong beliefs, 19% to have been brought up to think of themselves as a Christian but not to have strong religious beliefs, 12% not to be religious at all, and 8% as spiritual rather than religious.

Asked why they were recorded, or would have recorded themselves, as Christian in the 2011 census, 41% said that they tried to be a good person and associated that aspiration with Christianity, 31% that they genuinely attempted to follow the Christian religion, 26% that they had been brought up as Christian even though they were not religious now, 6% that they had ticked the option automatically without thinking, 5% that they felt uncomfortable about the growing influence of other religions, and 4% that Christian was another way of expressing their Britishness.

In reply to a different question, 40% equated being a Christian to being a good person, against 24% who mentioned upbringing, and 22% who spoke in terms of belief in Jesus Christ.

Quizzed more generally why they identified themselves as Christian, 72% cited baptism, 38% parental affiliation, 37% their Sunday school attendance as a child, 28% their belief in the teachings of Christianity, 21% their education in a Christian school, 19% their previous churchgoing, 19% their current churchgoing, and 13% their partner’s Christianity (multiple responses were possible).

35% said that, as a child, they had learned most about Christianity from a church or Sunday school, 30% from their parents or family, and 29% from their school.

Although 60% claimed that Christianity was important in their life, 81% said that it had no influence on their social networks, 69% no influence on their choice of marriage partner, and 78% no influence on which candidate they would vote for in a general election. 

RELIGIOUS BELIEFS

54% believed in God (two-thirds of whom said that Christianity is just one way, rather than the only true way, of knowing Him), 32% thought of God in terms of the laws of nature or some kind of supernatural intelligence, and 6% disbelieved.

44% regarded Jesus Christ as the Son of God and the saviour of mankind, 32% as a man and role model, 13% as a mere man, with 4% disbelieving in His existence.

32% believed in the physical resurrection of Jesus, 39% in His spiritual but not physical Resurrection, with 18% disbelieving in the Resurrection.

20% did not believe in heaven and 40% did not believe in hell, versus 63% and 41% who did believe (completely or to some extent). There was a strong attachment (64%) to fate and, to a lesser extent, to other alternative belief systems.

RELIGIOUS PRACTICE

29% claimed to have attended a Christian church service (other than a rite of passage) at least once a month during the previous year, but 49% had not worshipped during the year (two-thirds of whom had not been to church within the past five years or had never been).

27% stated that they had participated in some religious activity remotely during the past month, for example by watching or listening to a religious broadcast on television, radio or the internet, or by receiving a home visit from a member of their church pastoral team. 17% had so participated between one month and one year previously, but 53% not at all during the past twelve months.

35% prayed independently and from choice (i.e. when not at church) once a week or more, 25% less frequently, and 37% never or almost never. 21% did not even believe in the power of prayer compared with 63% who did.

15% had read the Bible independently and from choice within the last week, 32% within the last month or up to three years ago, 36% more than three years ago, and 15% never. Reflecting this limited acquaintance with the scriptures, just 35% of these Christians correctly named the first book of the New Testament.

ATTITUDES TO MORALITY

23% viewed the Bible as a perfect guide to morality, 42% as the best guide even though some of its teachings are inappropriate today, and 24% argued that there were better ways of knowing right from wrong.

In determining right from wrong, 54% mostly looked to their own inner moral sense, 25% to family and friends, and only 10% to their religion.

On specific matters of morality more of these self-identifying Christians took a ‘liberal’ than a ‘traditional’ stance, with 63% endorsing abortion, 61% full legal equality between homosexuals and heterosexuals, 59% assisted suicide, 57% extra-marital sex, and 46% homosexual relations.

ATTITUDES TO RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

54% supported state-funded faith schools for their denomination, 53% for any Christian denomination, and 44% for any religion (opponents numbering 16%, 15%, and 23%). However, almost as many opposed (36%) as endorsed (39%) the statutory requirement that children in state-funded schools should participate in a daily act of broadly Christian worship.

15% wanted religious education in state-funded schools to teach children to believe Christianity, 8% to teach children to believe whatever faith the school subscribed to, 7% to teach knowledge of Christianity but not of other faiths, and 57% to teach knowledge of all world faiths even-handedly.

38% did not want creationism to be taught in science lessons in state-funded schools against 31% who took the contrary line, with 29% uncertain.

ATTITUDES TO RELIGION IN PUBLIC LIFE

78% agreed that religion should be a private matter and that governments should not interfere in it, while 74% did not want religion to have any special influence on public policy. Nevertheless, 32% still agreed (and 46% disagreed) that the UK should have an official state religion. 92% contended that the law should apply to everybody equally, regardless of their religious beliefs.

Only 26% favoured the continuing presence of Anglican bishops in the House of Lords (32% against) and 32% the cost of hospital chaplains being met from NHS budgets (39% opposed).

SUMMATION

These results suggest that there may have been a dramatic ten-year fall in the number of professing Christians in the UK, from 72% in the 2001 census to 54% today. It remains to be seen whether this finding will be validated by the 2011 census data when they are eventually published. As BRIN has consistently noted, the measurement of religious profession is notoriously difficult, and differing methodologies and question-wording produce different results. Other Government sources, such as the Integrated Household Survey, still point towards quite high levels of ‘cultural Christianity’.

The ‘revelation’ that many who claim to be Christian fall short of Christian ideals in terms of their practices, beliefs and attitudes is not especially surprising. It has been documented in a wealth of studies since sample surveys began in Britain. Mass-Observation’s report into Puzzled People in Hammersmith in 1944-45 was one of the first to document some of these inherent contradictions in popular religion. Nonetheless, the Ipsos MORI data are helpful in quantifying systematically, and within a census context, the wide variation in the extent to which Christianity impacts upon, and has real meaning in, the everyday lives of Christians in the UK.

Ipsos MORI’s press release, topline results, and full computer tabulations (extending to 366 pages!) will be found at:

http://www.ipsos-mori.com/researchpublications/researcharchive/2921/Religious-and-Social-Attitudes-of-UK-Christians-in-2011.aspx

Two press releases about the survey from the Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science are available at:

http://richarddawkins.net/articles/644941-rdfrs-uk-ipsos-mori-poll-1-how-religious-are-uk-christians

http://richarddawkins.net/articles/644942-rdfrs-uk-ipsos-mori-poll-2-uk-christians-oppose-special-influence-for-religion-in-public-policy

A commentary on the statistics by the think-tank Ekklesia is at:

http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/node/16278

and by the National Secular Society at:

http://www.secularism.org.uk/news/2012/02/poll-reveals-majority-of-christians-support-secular-outlook

Coincidentally, the Ipsos MORI results appeared on the same day that the Conservative Muslim peer, Baroness Sayeeda Warsi, who is currently leading the largest ministerial delegation from the UK to the Vatican (reciprocating the papal visit to Britain in 2010), wrote an article in the Daily Telegraph entitled ‘We Stand Side by Side with the Pope in Fighting for Faith’ and criticizing ‘militant secularisation’.

The newspaper took the opportunity to run an instant online poll of its readers (obviously, being a self-selecting sample not necessarily representative of that readership, still less of the national population). By 10 pm on 14 February 13,493 votes had been cast, with the following (and perhaps surprising) pattern of responses to the question ‘Are you worried by the threat of militant secularism in Britain?’:

  • Marginalising religion is a form of intolerance seen in totalitarian regimes – 17.3%    
  • People should worship in private and not display religious symbols in public – 14.6%    
  • People should feel proud to worship in public and display their faith – 12.7%   
  • Secularisation is not a threat to this country – 55.4%   

 

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British Future

Posted on January 9, 2012 by Clive D. Field

Almost three-quarters of Britons consider that the country is a less religious place now than in 1948, the last time the Olympic Games were held here, according to a new survey by Ipsos MORI commissioned for the launch of British Future.

‘British Future is an independent, non-partisan thinktank seeking to involve people in an open conversation, which addresses people’s hopes and fears about identity and integration, migration and opportunity, so that we feel confident about Britain’s future.’

Fieldwork for the survey took place online among 2,320 adults aged 16 and over (including a boosted Scottish sample of 497) between 30 November and 6 December 2011.

Results were previewed in The Observer for 8 January 2012, with fuller analysis available in Rachael Jolley and Sunder Katwala, Hopes and Fears: The British Future State of the Nation Report, 2012, which can be found at:

http://www.britishfuture.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/BritishFutureHopesFears.pdf

Asked to assess various social changes which had taken place between 1948 and 2012, 72% said that Britain had become less religious (29% strongly agreeing with the statement, and 43% tending to agree). 13% were neutral, 13% disagreed, 2% uncertain.

The 59% in net agreement compared with 85% thinking women now had more choices available to them, 67% that Britain had become less polite, 61% that it had become more tolerant of gays, 44% that parenting standards had declined, 27% that there was less national pride, and 15% that relations between ethnic groups had improved.

The other question in the poll of potential interest to BRIN readers related to the biggest challenges which Britain was perceived to face in 2012. Only 5% cited racial or religious unrest among their three main concerns, with just 1% rating it as their top anxiety.

These were identical figures to those worried about terrorist attacks, and in joint penultimate place to environmental issues. Not unexpectedly, rising prices, unemployment, and public spending cuts headed the list of worries by a big margin.

 

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BBC Staff Religion

Posted on December 10, 2011 by Clive D. Field

Concern has been mounting for some time, among certain sections of the public, about a perceived anti-religious and, specifically, anti-Christian bias at the BBC. BRIN has already covered this story once, some six months ago, at:

http://www.brin.ac.uk/news/?p=1291
Continue reading →

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National Jewish Student Survey, 2011

Posted on October 10, 2011 by Clive D. Field

‘Jewish students are comfortable being openly Jewish at British universities, despite having concerns about attitudes to Israel on campus. Their commitment to Israel and the Jewish people is robust, but their appreciation of their personal social responsibility lacks muscle.’

These are some of the headlines from the first National Jewish Student Survey (NJSS), overseen by JPR, the Institute for Jewish Policy Research, and published on 4 October 2011. Written by David Graham and Jonathan Boyd, Home and Away: Jewish Journeys towards Independence – Key Findings from the 2011 National Jewish Student Survey can be downloaded from:

http://www.jpr.org.uk/downloads/NJSS_report%20final.pdf

The research was commissioned by the Union of Jewish Students (UJS) in partnership with the Pears Foundation. It was funded by the Pears Foundation, with additional support from UJIA, Rothschild Foundation (Hanadiv) Europe and the Maurice Wohl Charitable Foundation.

Quantitative fieldwork (there was also a qualitative phase, of focus groups) was carried out online by Ipsos MORI between 15 February and 15 March 2011. There were 925 valid responses from Jewish students, covering 95 different institutions, which IPR estimates to equate to from 11% to 14% of the total UK Jewish student population. In addition, there were 761 valid responses to a parallel general student survey, run for benchmarking purposes.

Since Jewish students comprise just 0.5% of all full-time higher education students in the UK, they are not easy to reach through normal random or quota sampling methods. Instead, IPR contacted them via the UJS database, a network of 17 Jewish student nodes, and a modest advertising campaign. Three-fifths of responses eventually derived through UJS as a contact source.

IPR is sensitive to the potential weaknesses of this methodology, which are explored in a section of the report (pp. 65-7) on ‘how representative is the NJSS sample?’ The main conclusions are that, while the sample was reasonably balanced in terms of Jewish denominational backgrounds, it was skewed towards students who were more Jewishly engaged.

With this caveat, we may note some of the key statistics from the study:

  • Half of Jewish students attended just eight out of 113 higher education institutions (Universities of Birmingham, Cambridge, Leeds, Manchester, Nottingham, Oxford, Kings College London, and University College London), against 9% of the national student body 
  • When choosing a university, 45% did so primarily for the course, 23% for the institution’s reputation, 11% for its league table performance, and 10% for its Jewish population size 
  • The most popular courses followed by Jewish students were medicine, politics, and business and finance, and they were three times less likely to be studying education than students in general 
  • Israel and Jewish Studies formed a component of their courses in relatively few instances (18% and 12% respectively), and this was mostly only a small part of the course 
  • 52% of Jewish students described themselves as religious and 41% as secular, with 53% connected to their home synagogue and 34% to the university Jewish chaplaincy 
  • When students were on campus, their levels of Jewish practice diminished compared to when they were at home, but socializing in Jewish circles substantially increased
  • 59% of Jewish students were always open about being Jewish on campus and 35% sometimes open, the remainder concealing their Jewish identity 
  • 31% reported that all or nearly all their closest friends were Jewish, and 29% that more than half were – this was particularly true of students assessing themselves as religious
  • 21% were concerned about anti-Semitism at their university and 42% reported having experienced or witnessed an anti-Semitic incident since the beginning of the academic year
  • 92% had visited Israel and 89% entertained positive feelings towards Israel (with 11% negative or ambivalent), in contrast to the general student population where 63% had no feelings either way about Israel 
  • 38% were concerned about anti-Israel sentiment on campus, the same number as felt that Israel was treated unfairly in their students’ union 
  • 85% agreed that being Jewish is about ‘strong moral and ethical behaviour’, but fewer (two-thirds) that it is about donating funds to charity, volunteering for a charity, or supporting social justice causes 
  • 72% agreed that it is important for a Jew to marry another Jew, although 50% of those who had been in a relationship had dated a non-Jewish partner 
  • 76% were worried about passing their exams, 68% about finding a job, 41% about living up to the expectations of their parents, and 39% about paying off financial debts 
  • Jewish students were more likely than students in general to have relationship issues, feelings of loneliness, and personal health concerns

For BRIN’s coverage of the launch of the NJSS last February, see:

http://www.brin.ac.uk/news/?p=900

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National Student Survey

Posted on August 17, 2011 by Clive D. Field

There is a very wide variation in the satisfaction of full-time final-year undergraduate students with the quality of the teaching of first degrees in theology and religious studies at UK universities.

This is according to results from the National Student Survey (NSS), which has been running annually since 2005, and whose 2010-11 data were published today. The survey is administered by Ipsos MORI on behalf of the higher education funding councils.

The percentage of students at each institution who said that they definitely or mostly agreed with the statement that ‘overall, I am satisfied with the quality of the course’ (question 22) is shown below.

The data relate to undergraduate courses in theology and religious studies except where an asterisk appears (denoting a course in philosophy, theology and religious studies). In some cases, the satisfaction scores are based on more than one year’s NSS results.

100% Durham University

100% University of Exeter

100% Liverpool Hope University

100% University of St Andrews

98%   University of Cambridge

98%   St Mary’s University College, Twickenham

97%   University of Stirling*

96%   University of Kent

96%   University of Oxford

96%   York St John University

94%   University of Bristol

94%   University of Chester

94%   University of Glasgow*

94%   University of Nottingham

93%   University of Aberdeen

93%   Heythrop College, University of London

90%   University of Edinburgh

90%   University of Manchester

89%   Lancaster University

89%   Oxford Brookes University*

89%   Roehampton University

89%   University of Winchester

88%   University of Sheffield

87%   Bangor University

86%   King’s College London

86%   University of Leeds

84%   Anglia Ruskin University*

84%   Cardiff University

83%   Bath Spa University

81%   Newman University College

81%   Queen’s University Belfast

76%   University of Birmingham

76%   Canterbury Christ Church University

76%   School of Oriental and African Studies

76%   University of Wolverhampton

74%   University of Hull

73%   Middlesex University*

72%   University of Gloucestershire

71%   University of Wales, Trinity St David (formerly Lampeter)

The league table is in line with expectations in many respects, not least in the strong showing by such institutions as Durham University, the University of Cambridge and the University of Oxford.

But there are a number of surprises, especially in comparison with the assessment of the quality of research in theology, divinity and religious studies, as measured in the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise (RAE).

For example, Liverpool Hope University, only 20% of whose research output in the field was judged 3* or 4* in 2008 (i.e. world-leading or internationally excellent) was joint top of the NSS table with 100%.

Towards the other end of the spectrum, the University of Birmingham achieved a 60% rating of its research at 3* and 4* but came well down the NSS list (in joint 32nd place, out of 39 institutions).

The NSS data can be searched and downloaded from:

http://unistats.direct.gov.uk/

The RAE results will be found at:

http://rae.ac.uk/results/qualityProfile.aspx?id=61&type=uoa

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Equality Duties and Schools

Posted on July 30, 2011 by Clive D. Field

Even before the Public Sector Equality Duty came into effect on 5 April 2011, thereby extending the legislative diversity responsibilities of public bodies to religion or belief, more than nine-tenths of maintained schools had already built religion or belief into their written equality policies or schemes.

This finding derives from a telephone survey of 503 maintained primary schools, secondary schools (including a booster of academies), special schools and Pupil Referral Units (PRUs) in England and Wales, which was conducted by Ipsos MORI for the Equality and Human Rights Commission between 7 June and 20 July 2010.

The proportion of schools covering religion or belief in their schemes averaged 93% but reached 98% in secondary schools, academies and special schools. The lowest figures were for primary schools (92%) and – somewhat paradoxically – faith schools (90%).

Nevertheless, only 34% of schools which covered religion or belief in their equality policies had actually set specific targets relating to the religion or belief equality strand at the time of fieldwork. This equated to 31% of all schools (dropping to 21% in the case of secondary schools).

The survey is reported in Graham Bukowski, Hazel Roberts, Jen Fraser and Fiona Johnson, The Equality Duties and Schools, Equality and Human Rights Commission Research Report, No. 70, published on 11 July 2011 and downloadable from:

http://www.equalityhumanrights.com/uploaded_files/research/rr70_equality_duties_and_schools.pdf

The report also disaggregates the replies of faith schools to most questions touching on other aspects of equality besides religion or belief, although it should be noted that only 69 faith schools were included in the sample.

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National Survey of Charities and Social Enterprises

Posted on July 30, 2011 by Clive D. Field

Religion is already a major component of the Big Society, even on a narrow definition, and without taking full account of the wider contribution of faith communities to the development of the country’s social capital.

For example, 19% of charities and social enterprises in England claim to undertake specifically religious or faith-based activities, and 13% describe this as their main focus.

14% regard the advancement of religion or spiritual welfare through the support of religious or spiritual practice as one of their roles and 11% as a principal goal.

18% consider faith communities as clients, users or beneficiaries of their work, and 8% as their main audience.

These are some of the findings from the 2010 National Survey of Charities and Social Enterprises (NSCSE), which was conducted by Ipsos MORI for the Office for Civil Society (part of the Cabinet Office) and published on 6 July 2011. 

The data derive from self-completion postal questionnaires sent out in September 2010 to a sample of charities, social enterprises and voluntary organizations across all 151 single and two-tier local authorities in England. 44,109 of them, or 41%, had replied (by post or online survey link) by the close of fieldwork in January 2011.  

National topline data, reports for all 151 local authorities, and an online reporting tool for customized queries are already available on the NSCSE website. The complete dataset and technical report will also be available there within a few weeks. See:

http://www.nscsesurvey.com/results2010/

The NSCSE is comparable to the 2008 National Survey of Third Sector Organisations (NSTSO), which was carried out between September and December 2008 in all 149 upper-tier local authorities in England in existence at that time. This achieved responses from 48,939 organizations, 47% of those sampled.

A database of organizations drawing on the list of registered charities and registers of Community Interest Companies, Companies Limited by Guarantee and Industrial and Provident Societies in England was supplied by Guidestar UK as the basis for both surveys.

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