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Surveying (Online) the Religious

and Non-Religious

Dr. Tristram Hooley

International Centre for Guidance Studies

Professor Paul Weller

Centre for Society, Religion and Belief

University of Derby

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Is this cyberspace?

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Binary oppositions?

Online research Onsite research

Cyberspace Place

Virtual reality Reality

E-learning Learning

E-religion Religion

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Blended living

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Issues with Online Media

Are online research methods

only useful for investigatingonline phenomena?

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Possible advantages of online

surveys?

Can mitigate distance and allow for theinternationalising of research

Access to research populations

Speed and volume of data collection

Decrease personal risk

Savings in costs

Flexible designData accuracy

Anonymity

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But.possible disadvantages?

Issues of digital access and digital literacy

Circumstances in which the survey is completedare beyond researchers control

Issues of identity verificationHigh drop off rates

Sample bias

Measurement error (Sax et al, 2003)

Non-response bias

Technical problems

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Research Council funded

update of Home Office project

from a decade ago:

includes organisation survey

originally paper survey only

small groups all on-line now?

used paper and electronic

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Open invite electronic survey

for Equality Challenge Unit

media literate population

only on-line survey

lots of pre-coded responses

other responses coding need

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Consultancy project for

Belieforama Policy Brief

international population

only on-line

in multiple languages

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Key issues

Sampling and recruitment

Framing questions

Classification, definition and self-definition

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Sampling and recruitment issues

Recruitment

Sampling

Identity verification

Incentives

Response rates

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Who are you surveying?

The online population?

The population?

The online religious population?

The religious population?The adherents of a particular

religion and belief position who

are active online?

The adherent of a particularposition who actively articulate

that position online?

The role of

gatekeepers

Relating to

imperfectinformation about

the general

population

Stratifying the

sample

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Framing questions

How open should questions be?

Managing the breadth of religion and belief

Avoiding assumptions of mono-theism

Providing space for the non-religious

Providing space for the spiritual

Recognising fuzzy fidelity

R & B as personal vs. political/social

Handling believing without belonging and

belonging without believing

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Example

How do you observe your religion or belief?

Is it possible to have tick all that apply?

What if respondents dont recognise the

category of observance?

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Classification, definition and

self-definition

Open or closed

Whose list to use?Managing the exceptions/self-definitions

Managing the boundaries between

religion, ethnicity and cultureMaking judgments using an intercoder

agreement approach

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More on Online Research

What is online research?

http://www.bloomsburyacademic.com/view/What-Is-Online-Research/book-ba-9781849665544.xml

Paper on Researching the non-religious in Social Identities betweenthe sacred and secularhttp://www.ashgate.com/isbn/9781409456773

Slides from this presentation athttp://adventuresincareerdevelopment.posterous.com/

My online surveys bibliography at

http://www.citeulike.org/user/pigironjoe/tag/online_surveys

http://www.bloomsburyacademic.com/view/What-Is-Online-Research/book-ba-9781849665544.xmlhttp://www.bloomsburyacademic.com/view/What-Is-Online-Research/book-ba-9781849665544.xmlhttp://www.bloomsburyacademic.com/view/What-Is-Online-Research/book-ba-9781849665544.xmlhttp://www.ashgate.com/isbn/9781409456773http://www.ashgate.com/isbn/9781409456773http://adventuresincareerdevelopment.posterous.com/http://adventuresincareerdevelopment.posterous.com/http://www.citeulike.org/user/pigironjoe/tag/online_surveyshttp://www.citeulike.org/user/pigironjoe/tag/online_surveyshttp://www.citeulike.org/user/pigironjoe/tag/online_surveyshttp://www.citeulike.org/user/pigironjoe/tag/online_surveyshttp://adventuresincareerdevelopment.posterous.com/http://adventuresincareerdevelopment.posterous.com/http://www.ashgate.com/isbn/9781409456773http://www.ashgate.com/isbn/9781409456773http://www.bloomsburyacademic.com/view/What-Is-Online-Research/book-ba-9781849665544.xmlhttp://www.bloomsburyacademic.com/view/What-Is-Online-Research/book-ba-9781849665544.xmlhttp://www.bloomsburyacademic.com/view/What-Is-Online-Research/book-ba-9781849665544.xmlhttp://www.bloomsburyacademic.com/view/What-Is-Online-Research/book-ba-9781849665544.xmlhttp://www.bloomsburyacademic.com/view/What-Is-Online-Research/book-ba-9781849665544.xmlhttp://www.bloomsburyacademic.com/view/What-Is-Online-Research/book-ba-9781849665544.xmlhttp://www.bloomsburyacademic.com/view/What-Is-Online-Research/book-ba-9781849665544.xmlhttp://www.bloomsburyacademic.com/view/What-Is-Online-Research/book-ba-9781849665544.xmlhttp://www.bloomsburyacademic.com/view/What-Is-Online-Research/book-ba-9781849665544.xmlhttp://www.bloomsburyacademic.com/view/What-Is-Online-Research/book-ba-9781849665544.xmlhttp://www.bloomsburyacademic.com/view/What-Is-Online-Research/book-ba-9781849665544.xmlhttp://www.bloomsburyacademic.com/view/What-Is-Online-Research/book-ba-9781849665544.xml

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The Three Referred to

Religion and Belief Projects

with Online Aspects

Religious Discrimination in England and Wales: Theory,Policy and Practice (2000-2010) Research Project

http://www.derby.ac.uk/religion-and-society

Religion and Belief in Higher Education: TheExperiences of Staff and Students

http://www.derby.ac.uk/ehs/research/religion-and-belief-in-HE

Learning from Experience, Leading to Engagement:Belieforama Policy Brief Research for EuropeanInstitutions and Civil Societies

http://www.belieforama.eu

http://www.derby.ac.uk/religion-and-societyhttp://www.derby.ac.uk/ehs/research/religion-and-belief-in-HEhttp://www.derby.ac.uk/ehs/research/religion-and-belief-in-HEhttp://www.belieforama.eu/http://www.belieforama.eu/http://www.derby.ac.uk/ehs/research/religion-and-belief-in-HEhttp://www.derby.ac.uk/ehs/research/religion-and-belief-in-HEhttp://www.derby.ac.uk/ehs/research/religion-and-belief-in-HEhttp://www.derby.ac.uk/ehs/research/religion-and-belief-in-HEhttp://www.derby.ac.uk/ehs/research/religion-and-belief-in-HEhttp://www.derby.ac.uk/ehs/research/religion-and-belief-in-HEhttp://www.derby.ac.uk/ehs/research/religion-and-belief-in-HEhttp://www.derby.ac.uk/ehs/research/religion-and-belief-in-HEhttp://www.derby.ac.uk/ehs/research/religion-and-belief-in-HEhttp://www.derby.ac.uk/religion-and-societyhttp://www.derby.ac.uk/religion-and-societyhttp://www.derby.ac.uk/religion-and-societyhttp://www.derby.ac.uk/religion-and-societyhttp://www.derby.ac.uk/religion-and-society