|
Some simple research
Getting people to talk about God
People seem increasingly willing to answer very short questionnaires which
ask them directly about their belief in God and about their attitudes to
churchgoing - and the results can be startling:
On one council estate (where few go to church regularly),
214 people answered the questions - well over half of those approached. Of
these:
 | 105 said they definitely believed in God. Only 10 said they definitely did
not. |
| 80 were not at all certain what happens to people after death. Only 22
said there definitely isn't anything after death. |
| 143 ticked 'the only Son of God' as the best description of Jesus.
(Problem: They knew it was 'the correct answer'!) Only 13 thought he was a
myth or legend. |
| 147 wanted to ask God why there was so much suffering in the world. |
| 120 said "Yes" when asked "If you could know God
personally, would you be interested?" |
In a moderate-sized village 230 people answered a slightly
different set of questions.
| Again only 18 said that they definitely do not believe in God. |
| 163 out of the 230 have some sort of belief in God - often a very strong
belief - but do not regularly go to church. |
| Of these, 99 used to go to church regularly in the past. |
Some practical tips if you fancy trying a similar
questionnaire in your own locality
- Make sure the exercise has official backing from a local church or
churches
- Take and collect your questionnaire in person (but let them answer it in
private)
- Limit the number of houses you survey.
- Ask no more than eight short questions.
- Give multiple choice answers wherever possible (but try to avoid 'leading'
questions!).
- Emphasise anonymity (but questions about age and gender are useful).
- Publish the collated results (and invite an independent specialist to
comment on them).
| 
