Monthly Archives: December 2010

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 … Continue reading →

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University Students

Posted on December 16, 2010 by Clive D. Field

Three-fifths of UK university students claim to belong to some religion, but most do not regard themselves as particularly religious. And although three-quarters accept that there are clear ethical principles differentiating right from wrong, only one-third think they should always … Continue reading →

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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page, the English Defence League (EDL), a right-wing group opposed to so-called Muslim extremism, has apparently withdrawn its acceptance of an offer by the American Terry Jones to speak at an EDL … Continue reading →

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Online Tools for Analysing Religious Data: (2) Britsocat.com

Posted on December 15, 2010 by Siobhan McAndrew

Following on from the previous post, a second online resource exists at Britsocat.com, which provides an online tool for analysis of data from the British Social Attitudes surveys. You need to register your e-mail address and login with a password, but access is free and it’s easy-to-use. This is an amazing resource: over 20,000 questions have been put to respondents over the course of the 1983-2008 surveys. Continue reading →

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Online Tools for Analysing Religious Data: (1) The 2001 Census

Posted on December 14, 2010 by Siobhan McAndrew

About a month ago I gave a talk at an Open University M.A. workshop on researching religion using online resources. I thought it worth providing a summary of what we covered and the resources available here in advance of a formal commentary paper. Continue reading →

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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. … Continue reading →

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Clive Field on Attitudes to Islam and Muslim Attitudes in Britain

Posted on December 13, 2010 by Siobhan McAndrew

Last week, the Institute for Social Change (where BRIN is based) hosted a seminar by Clive Field, who co-directs this resource and blogs here assiduously. The title was “Muslim Opinions and Opinions of Muslims: British Experiences”. Clive provided a historical overview of Islam in Britain, followed by a “survey of surveys”, and culminating in an exploratory analysis of a survey of British Muslims sponsored by Harvard and Manchester. Continue reading →

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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 … Continue reading →

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Christmas Present

Posted on December 11, 2010 by Clive D. Field

Further to our recent post on the religious meaning of Christmas in contemporary Britain, as recorded by GfK NOP/The Children’s Society (http://www.brin.ac.uk/news/?p=744), additional insights are provided in a poll released by the theological think-tank Theos on 8 December. The study … Continue reading →

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Hate Crimes

Posted on December 8, 2010 by Clive D. Field

Data on the number of hate crimes reported to and recorded by the police across England, Wales and Northern Ireland were published for the first time on 30 November, partly with the intention of encouraging people to come forward with … Continue reading →

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