Census 2022 question on religion

We didn't get what we wanted but there is an improvement in the direction that we wanted. That's generally how lobbying plays out in practice.

I guess that something like 'Do you identify as a member of any religion?' would have been better, but the change in the wording question, and the promotion of the 'no religion' check box to the top position both seem like improvements to me.

I don't see the new question as anything that will confuse people really.

I guess there is an argument that maybe people will simply opt for the first response option, and thus increase the 'no religion' numbers, but that's a problem with any survey - respondents never care about the survey to the extent that the creators of the survey do. And tbh if people's faith is at the stage where they will check a 'Methodist' box but are not bothered to actually write the word 'Methodist' I think it says something about the strength of their religious belief.

You are not being too literal, you are being not literal enough... the question says "if any" and the next line says "mark one box only". So everybody should be ticking one box. IIRC the enumerators are supposed to ask people if they left a question blank whether that was intentional and give them the opportunity to complete it if not.

AI had a similar (but not the same, obviously) graphic for the last census. It was certainly needed then as having 'no religion' not only below all the other tick-box options, but below the 'other' write-in box was totally ridiculous. Even before the last census, 'no religion' was the second most popular answer to this question (and has been since 2002) so there was no way it should have been at the bottom.

It's a good thing to make people aware that the question is intended to reflect their current beliefs / views and not simply the religion they were raised in. That perception is definitely still out there among some.

Yes, the current belief part is very important to convey. Atheist Ireland will be circulating this graphic between now and the census.

The concept is gone - replaced by "Person 1", meaning the first person listed on the form as residing at the premises. Everyone else is asked to state their relationship to "person 1". Any resident can be listed as "person 1".

As for "ticking the religion box on their behalf", that's not a problem unless they tick it inaccurately.

And maybe don't raise this as an issue too much; it's not the intention, but it tends to create the impression that a significant chunk of the Irish unbelieving community are still living at home with Mammy and Daddy, and furthermore are doing so on terms that their families either do not know about, or cannot bring themselves to take seriously, their religious identification. This conjures up the impression of the stereotypical unbeliever as a postadolescent slacker who isn't even a household name in his own household.

As I say, I'm sure that's not the intention (and, more to the point, I'm sure that's not the reality) but I have to confess that it's an image that is constantly presented to me by this particular line of argument.

Actually, I'm expecting the opposite. If there are more people going to churches, my guess is that these are people who would have been ticking the Catholic box anyway. They'll be more than offset by people who gave up their churchgoing habits during the lockdowns, find they don't miss them and haven't resumed, and may reconsider their religious identification/affiliation.

I agree that the "head of the household" filling in the census form for everybody can distort the figures. But if you want to answer the personal questions privately, you can ask for an individual census form and a confidentiality envelope. They don't publicise this as they don't want too many people doing it, but it is an option.

Just off a meeting in work there with about 10 people. One of the guys brought this up while we were shooting the breeze. As soon as he got off the call the rest of them said they were going to tick RC just because yer man was so militant about the Athiesm thing. And everyone at that meeting was an Athiest. Its the Athiest preaching now thats getting worse than the churches preaching.

If I owed the state 1.3 BILLION euro as redress for institutional child abuse and didn't pay it, I'd consider it financial support. Wouldn't you?