Rite & Reason: A new survey aims to highlight Irish views on assisted dying, climate change and artificial intelligence, and how people’s thoughts are influenced by their faith perspectiveAs we move into the next quarter of this century, where does churchgoing fit into the Irish landscape? Photograph: Nick BradshawAs a researcher, surveys are a regular feature of my work. If I want to learn more about a phenomenon or discover how people feel about an issue, I ask questions.
We are always conscious of survey saturation, whereby people may feel bombarded by yet another survey regardless of the subject matter. Or perhaps they are deterred from responding due to irritation at being asked yet again about certain issues. Especially in faith-related matters, some may feel that ticking a box does not give a broad or accurate enough account of their complex opinion.
We are keen to represent the viewpoints of the Irish people authentically in matters of faith and education. To do this, we depend on obtaining as wide a variety of responses as possible to our ongoing research. In the past, the Irish public have been very generous in giving their time to help us with our work and we are inviting them to help again by completing. It should only take about 10 minutes to complete but the findings from the responses could be fascinating.