Participate in my research study on atheists

[DaithiDublin]

I was motivated to take the survey largely because most people here didn't. That fact tells you more about my psychology than any of the questions in the actual survey.

Bip, I'm surprised you walk on two legs!

[Beebub]

Yep. I gave up too. You're not going to get a fair reflection on athiests in Ireland if you ask such a large amont irrelevent questions. The questions relating to shame and secrecy are reptitive and they're not written from an objective point of view. They're heavily weighted and are written from the perspective of someon'e pre-conceived notions of what atheism is and how atheists must feel as a result of the question writer's tired opinions.

Do your own questions.

[uppsju]

Hey UCCResearcher, I sent you a PM about things you need to do to rework the survey.

[BubbleWrap]

Just had a worrying thought. Is UCCResearcher's 'survey' intended to illicite the responses we are giving him/her. What I mean is, is it deliberately flawed to see how we react. Like mice in a maze.

[Feardorcha]

We'll know when the Iona Istitute comes out with: " Ninety-three per cent of Irish atheists are afraid their Mammies will find out they don't go to Mass!"

[Ter]

Just had a worrying thought. Is UCCResearcher's 'survey' intended to illicite the responses we are giving him/her. What I mean is, is it deliberately flawed to see how we react. Like mice in a maze.

No I think your wrong. The research goal is to find out how many atheists will fill it out. Interesting thought though.

[uppsju]

I think UCCResearcher ought to reply to this thread, if she/he is really interested in academic research...

[DaithiDublin]

Organizing atheists has been compared to herding cats, because they tend to think independently and will not conform to authority.
—Richard Dawkins


If you stand up and be counted, from time to time you may get yourself knocked down. But remember this: A man flattened by an opponent can get up again. A man flattened by conformity stays down for good.
—Thomas J. Watson


To be nobody-but-yourself -- in a world which is doing its best, night and day, to make you everybody else -- means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight;
and never stop fighting.
—ee cummings


Oh, Officer Starling... do you think you can dissect me with this blunt little tool?
—Hannibal Lecter

[adamrsweet]

Any study should include funvax. Just sayin

[Ygern]

Some of your questionnaire would benefit from some tweaking. There are questions that are not as clear-cut as you might think, and could either be broken down further or re-worded for clarity. It might improve the information you get.

Intro
What part of the world are you from? - Do you mean where are we living now? Where were we born? What nationality are we? (each question would yield a different answer in my case)
How many hours per week (on average) do you spend online? - for what purpose? My job requires me to be online pretty much the entire time I am in the office. However, I suspect you are going for recreation or socialisation hours online.

Section 2
While I accept that your questions are honest and perhaps a sympathetic enquiry; they presuppose that all atheists have, to a lesser or greater degree, a bad time being an atheist in society.
There is nothing wrong with asking about the negative effects, however, a lot of atheists find atheism has in fact enhanced their life experience. Yet you ask no questions about this at all.

Section 3
I appreciate that the focus of your study is on online communities. But, do you do know that quite a lot of online atheist communities have a "real life" component? The internet facilitates contact and communication between geographically far-flung members, but nevertheless is part of a group (groups, in fact) who meet up in the real world too, both in small local groups and larger meetings that bring together members from great distances. As a result, this online community is significantly different from other online groups in that a high percentage of us know each other.