Census religion question must be made clearer
I have a related concern that the census questions should be drafted properly in order to increase the accuracy of the answers given. As Mr FitzHarris suggests, the last census clearly overestimated the number of Roman Catholics in the country, and underestimated the number of people of no religion.
This was not, however, due to dishonesty on the part of the surveyed. The question on religion in the census seemed designed to have this effect.
It is well known that the way the religion question is asked in surveys has a huge influence on the way that it is answered. The Irish question almost looks as if its purpose had been to maximise reported numbers of Roman Catholics.
The question, first of all, puts Catholicism at the top of the options, and 'no religion' at the bottom (after 'other' and separated from the rest of the question by a large gap). It does not make clear that the question is about religious belief rather than about upbringing or ethnic identity. It is difficult to imagine a question better designed to overstate religious belief and understate religious non-belief. The same question will be repeated in this year's census, despite evidence of the sensitivity of data on religious belief to question wording and structure.
Compare the Northern Irish version of the question, where two questions are asked: firstly, whether the respondent "belongs to any particular religion" (to be answered yes or no) and, then if so, what that religion is. This working, while not perfect, is more logically structured, clearer, and more likely to receive accurate answers to the question asked.
While I'm sympathetic to the surveyors' need for comparable results from census to census, and realise that any change in the wording of questions compromises comparability, the question on religion is long overdue for replacement with something more accurate. They should remove the anachronism now. Otherwise, they leave themselves open to the accusation of deliberately understating the number of non-religious in Ireland.
Jaime Hyland
26 Heinrich-Mann-St
13156 Berlin
Germany
