Yes, this is #34, because technically, I was supposed to do a journal entry for last Friday, but I actually spaced doing it while I was in Las Vegas over the weekend. All that sun and dry air just makes me extra forgetful I guess.
In other things, I was able to do a lot of reading for my History of England since 1689 class. I love the section we're on now, because it's the 20th century, and involves a lot more of the recent history that I have become somewhat acquainted with as I've been preparing to go to London, and the events in the last fifty years have a lot more to do with the current state of England than anything else I have read about in the class.
I am particularly interested in the effect of the welfare state on the people in England. I wonder if it has anything to do with how religious they are. Did the "swinging sixties" throw the populace into a state of moral and religious disinterest that they've never really come out of it. That wouldn't seem to be the case, because the loss of religiousness that I have researched has been since 1983, which was the year that Margaret Thatcher won her second election as Prime Minister. Margaret Thatcher was said to have brought back an emphasis on Victorian Era values of home, family, and respectability, that seem in my mind to be connected to traditional religion. Hmm, I guess I should try to find more information from the UK census or other polls about the levels of religiosity in the 1960s and 1970s. I really haven't been paying much attention. I do know from a book about religion in the UK that religiosity took a serious hit in the 1960s. Perhaps it was the attendance that took the hit then, and more recently the loss has simply been in open affiliation. Perhaps the loss of open affiliation, too, is just a more open acceptance of the true lack of religiosity that already existed in the 1980s, but that the British were simply less willing to admit.
Looks like there's more reading for me to do...
Showing posts with label Religious Opinions. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Religious Opinions. Show all posts
Monday, April 9, 2012
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
Journal Entry #32 - 4/4/12
So I've been thinking of a few more questions to ask people. I've been contemplating the extremely private nature of many people in Great Britain. I happened upon this website the other day, and I was thinking about how I need to do better about being punctual. It's less of a "deciding to be late" problem as much as a "I have too much to do, therefore I can't justify being early" problem. In any case, being in London may raise the marginal benefit of being early a bit for me, and perhaps help me overcome my bad habit.
About the slower decision-making process than in the United States, I think that's an interesting one. I'm trying to decide if Brazilians are faster or slower than Americans. Maybe I haven't been around Americans enough since I've been back to know. However, I think Brazilians are pretty slow at making decisions too. I think they're better at faking that they've made a decision than actually making the decision. I've had a lot of people in Brazil tell that they were going to do something and I was dead certain when they said it that they didn't mean it. In America, I think people are a little more prone to tell you straight out if they're going to do something or not. And I think Brazilians like to put of decision making. Maybe that's what this man means when he says that "Decision-making is slower in England than in the United States." In terms of my interviews, I'll have to keep that fact in mind. I may not find anyone in London who will be willing to do an interview with me after only knowing me for a short time. It may take individuals I meet a while to decide that they want to help me.
I was thinking about ways that I might go about just getting the pulse of the population when it comes to religion. If I did succeed in starting up a conversation with someone, either at a museum or at a park (which isn't likely, given how private the British are said to be), how would I turn the conversation to the topic of religion? Undoubtably, they will ask what I'm doing in England. If I tell them I'm studying religion, they may not want to talk about it, since it's not exactly one of those topics you speak about in casual conversation. But if I was to ask something like "You know, the UK isn't near as religious as it used to be," maybe some people will just open up about what they think about it. The essential part here will be holding their attention on the topic for enough time to make it interesting to them too. If they like me and find my conversation amusing or entertaining, there's a chance they might just let me call on them again to do an interview. Just a chance though.
About the slower decision-making process than in the United States, I think that's an interesting one. I'm trying to decide if Brazilians are faster or slower than Americans. Maybe I haven't been around Americans enough since I've been back to know. However, I think Brazilians are pretty slow at making decisions too. I think they're better at faking that they've made a decision than actually making the decision. I've had a lot of people in Brazil tell that they were going to do something and I was dead certain when they said it that they didn't mean it. In America, I think people are a little more prone to tell you straight out if they're going to do something or not. And I think Brazilians like to put of decision making. Maybe that's what this man means when he says that "Decision-making is slower in England than in the United States." In terms of my interviews, I'll have to keep that fact in mind. I may not find anyone in London who will be willing to do an interview with me after only knowing me for a short time. It may take individuals I meet a while to decide that they want to help me.
I was thinking about ways that I might go about just getting the pulse of the population when it comes to religion. If I did succeed in starting up a conversation with someone, either at a museum or at a park (which isn't likely, given how private the British are said to be), how would I turn the conversation to the topic of religion? Undoubtably, they will ask what I'm doing in England. If I tell them I'm studying religion, they may not want to talk about it, since it's not exactly one of those topics you speak about in casual conversation. But if I was to ask something like "You know, the UK isn't near as religious as it used to be," maybe some people will just open up about what they think about it. The essential part here will be holding their attention on the topic for enough time to make it interesting to them too. If they like me and find my conversation amusing or entertaining, there's a chance they might just let me call on them again to do an interview. Just a chance though.
Wednesday, March 28, 2012
Journal Entry #29 - 3/28/12
In all my thinking about London, one element that I haven't done a wonderful job thinking out is how I'm going to be conducting my interviews. They are, after all, the heart of my project. A successful summer will hang greatly on the quality of these interviews, and on my getting at least 15 of them done.
I imagine myself visiting quite a few churches while I'm in London. The demographic that will be most interesting to me for my study will be traditional Britons--not so much newer immigrants, which there will be bound to be many. While interviewing immigrants will still be a very useful addition to my study, the individuals that I am most interested in talking to will be: 1) Church clergyman from the Church of England, the Catholic Church, and other christian churches (such as an evangelical or Methodist church). 2) Univerisity professors--especially those who are already interested in religious studies and who might be able to help me conduct my survey. 3) Government workers, such as social workers, policemen, or pubic officials.
Talking to people from these three sectors is important because the trend I am researching is focuses on church attendance among other forms of religious behavior, and who better to answer questions about people attending church, and whether it does them good or bad, than church leaders themselves? Secondly, university professors are bound to have a very different take on the role and tradition of religion in the country. Many of them may be atheist or agnostic, they might be religiously indifferent, or even highly religious themselves (the British Social Attitudes Survey confirmed that those who are highly educated and religious tend to be very religious). Since I would like to conduct my survey to college aged young adults around 18-24 years old, if possible, the best gatekeepers for that kind of project would be a university professor who already has an interest in studying religion and who may be intrigued by my research. Talking to public officials would be very interesting because of the current debate going on between those who favor PM David Cameron's assertion that the UK is a Christian country, and those who oppose him, and the role of government with respect to religion is a complex matter that may change a great deal as the country becomes more secular (or not). Thus, finding a thoughtful person in government about the trend would be very interesting indeed.
Gaining access will be a challenge for each of these three, shall we say, target demographics. I believe the easiest to penetrate would be religious leaders. Since most religious events are public, the chance of being able to go to a meeting or a religious service and then go up and talk to a preacher or religious leader afterwards about my project seems very likely to me. One thing is certain - my chance of getting an interview with one of them depends greatly on how well I can talk about my project. If it makes sense and I can make it sound relevant to their work, I may get an interview. If it doesn't sound relevant at all, they'll blow me off. The same goes for professors and government officials - they are all busy people. A whole hour of talking to me isn't something they are likely to just give away unless they feel like it is very important or useful to them too. That's the question I must ask myself: Why would talking to me about religion and religiosity be important?
I imagine myself visiting quite a few churches while I'm in London. The demographic that will be most interesting to me for my study will be traditional Britons--not so much newer immigrants, which there will be bound to be many. While interviewing immigrants will still be a very useful addition to my study, the individuals that I am most interested in talking to will be: 1) Church clergyman from the Church of England, the Catholic Church, and other christian churches (such as an evangelical or Methodist church). 2) Univerisity professors--especially those who are already interested in religious studies and who might be able to help me conduct my survey. 3) Government workers, such as social workers, policemen, or pubic officials.
Talking to people from these three sectors is important because the trend I am researching is focuses on church attendance among other forms of religious behavior, and who better to answer questions about people attending church, and whether it does them good or bad, than church leaders themselves? Secondly, university professors are bound to have a very different take on the role and tradition of religion in the country. Many of them may be atheist or agnostic, they might be religiously indifferent, or even highly religious themselves (the British Social Attitudes Survey confirmed that those who are highly educated and religious tend to be very religious). Since I would like to conduct my survey to college aged young adults around 18-24 years old, if possible, the best gatekeepers for that kind of project would be a university professor who already has an interest in studying religion and who may be intrigued by my research. Talking to public officials would be very interesting because of the current debate going on between those who favor PM David Cameron's assertion that the UK is a Christian country, and those who oppose him, and the role of government with respect to religion is a complex matter that may change a great deal as the country becomes more secular (or not). Thus, finding a thoughtful person in government about the trend would be very interesting indeed.
Gaining access will be a challenge for each of these three, shall we say, target demographics. I believe the easiest to penetrate would be religious leaders. Since most religious events are public, the chance of being able to go to a meeting or a religious service and then go up and talk to a preacher or religious leader afterwards about my project seems very likely to me. One thing is certain - my chance of getting an interview with one of them depends greatly on how well I can talk about my project. If it makes sense and I can make it sound relevant to their work, I may get an interview. If it doesn't sound relevant at all, they'll blow me off. The same goes for professors and government officials - they are all busy people. A whole hour of talking to me isn't something they are likely to just give away unless they feel like it is very important or useful to them too. That's the question I must ask myself: Why would talking to me about religion and religiosity be important?
Friday, March 16, 2012
Journal Entry #26 - 3/16/12
Watching this 26 minute video from the "7 Billion Others" project website really made me think a lot about people. I watched the video because I wanted to see and hear more about how normal, everyday people think and believe about God. I've been doing so much reading lately, and a lot of my sources have been printed sources. However, focusing only on what is printed about his topic - attitudes toward religion, and it positively or negatively affects people's lives - does have a strong selection bias. Only the inteligencia puts their thoughts to print. What about the old man next door, the woman in South Sudan, the young man from China? Well, the young man in China might have a blog, but I don't think the old man will (unless he's an outlier, haha). While I am sure these people think deeply about religion and their belief in God, rarely do we get to hear it. I suppose there's not much of a demand for that kind of material, and only organizations like the Goodplanet Foundation that create projects like 7 Billion others actually provide it. That being said, it was remarkable to watch the movie because the voice of the person asking the question is never heard. The camera is often placed so close to the face of the person, and if feels like they are speaking right to you.
I'm the kind of person who likes--too much--to interject, to ask additional questions, to clarify certain points, and to direct a train of thought. I know that I cannot do that while I'm in London interviewing people about how they feel about religion and how it affects them and society, and how increasing secularization might be affecting them, for good or for worse. Religion is a very sensitive topic, with strong feelings and fervent beliefs. I will have to learn to listen more. I'll have to become good at those silent prompts and repeating what others say instead of trying to direct them a certain way. The results are more natural that way, I think; I imagine the opinion-coloring influence that I might have, as an interviewer, on their responses will be lessened if can just hear each person out.
I'm the kind of person who likes--too much--to interject, to ask additional questions, to clarify certain points, and to direct a train of thought. I know that I cannot do that while I'm in London interviewing people about how they feel about religion and how it affects them and society, and how increasing secularization might be affecting them, for good or for worse. Religion is a very sensitive topic, with strong feelings and fervent beliefs. I will have to learn to listen more. I'll have to become good at those silent prompts and repeating what others say instead of trying to direct them a certain way. The results are more natural that way, I think; I imagine the opinion-coloring influence that I might have, as an interviewer, on their responses will be lessened if can just hear each person out.
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