Fordham survey of Catholics who change their minds: You may want to participate
August 6, 2012, 10:50 am
Posted by Cathleen Kaveny
In the midst of our many blog conversations about the situation of the Catholic Church today, I’ve been alerted to a study that is being conducted by researchers at Fordham University to better understand how and why baptized Catholics make deep changes in their beliefs and practices. To find out more, visit the survey site. Sounds like an important question for the Church to get more clarity about.
Thank you. I took the survey — brief and hopefully worthwhile.
Hope others will do so.
I took it.
I tried to take the survey, but was told that I didn’t fit the parameters. Now my wife has firm evidence that I am “odd man out.”
I tried, but the questions didn’t appear — only the thanks for participating page. Sigh.
I tried, but when they asked for “a few sentences” to describe changes in my Catholic beliefs and practices over the years, I gave up. I guess I have been around too long.
Agree, John. Expecting old Catholics to put it in a few sentences reveals a lot about the questioners and about their knowledge of what has happened in the Church in the last sixty years.
(A suggestion fo those who would like to write out their experiences at length and in detail: consider publishing on Amazon. Kindle Direct Publishing makes it free and easy to do so. I posted a link on my web site to an easy guide to formatting your composition. You upload, and Viola!, there it is in a couple of hours, available to all. Your thoughts and your words, unfiltered, uncensored, unadulterated.)
More tough news for me. My wife’s responses to the survey were accepted.
Bernard and Ann, when you land on the first page of the survey, there is a radio button that you need to fill in before continuing on – did you do that step?
When I checked the box for “Deeply Ambivalent,” I was instructed to take the survey twice so that I could express both my points of view. I scored poorly on the “Nuns with Male Names” section, remembering only Sister Catherine Joseph. Having already given my e-mail address, I declined to answer the question: “What was the worst sin you ever committed?” I answered “yes” to the question about having a Protestant father, and proudly answered “no” to the question about whether I had ever peeked at his RSV Bible prior to Vatican II. (My sister and I approached it on the shelf a number of times, but always resisted touching it.) I answered “yes” to the question about having a rosary with a capsule of water in the cross, having had one with Lourdes water and another one with water from the River Jordan. I answered “itchy” to the question about scapulars. I answered “don’t know” to the question about whether Vatican I was known as Vatican I prior to Vatican II. I had forgotten Montini, never knew Luciani, got Pacelli, Roncalli, and Ratzinger, but misspelled Wojtyla and only got partial credit. I answered “no” to the question about ever trying to sell a house faster by burying a statue of St. Joseph in the yard. I answered “don’t know” to the question about whether, when fasting, Perrier counts as just regular water. Favorite tunes: Pange Lingua and Dies Irae. Favorite saint: Teresa of Avila. Name two neums: punctum and podatus.
Yes, Jim. I filled in that button. It showed up as a check mark. So you see–my wife is indeed part of the in-crowd and if I ever were part of it, I’m now excommunicated. As Ann would say: Sigh!
What survey did D. Nichols take?
You forgot Montini on this, the 34th anniversary of his death!
Remember him and and the 140,000 dead at Hiroshima 67 years ago.
I also tried to take the survey and was thanked for taking it. I suspect the survey was to be relatively brief, but not THAT brief!
Can the link posted above be checked for accuracy?
Hmm. I wonder whether the initial information about our ages might have led to a branching of the paths in the questions we were asked?
Given the comments above, it’s hard to believe this study could be statistically valid.
“Are you now, or have you ever been, a Roman Catholic?”
I felt like I was going to get blacklisted or something.
Anyway, I didn’t fit their parameters, either. Didn’t say why, just went to a “thanks for your interest page.” I wonder if getting into heaven will be like that. If it keeps flubbing up or refusing to take your info, you’ll know you’re in hell.
Jim P. –
Thanks, but I just tried to get back to the first page a couple of times and only that last page came up. This sort of thing happens rather frequently with Macs. The programmers don’t do such a good job for us.
Bernard –
I seem to be excommunicated with you. See my post just above this. As you say, sigh.
I tried it also. I suspect that Susan Gannon’s post explains it – they ask age right at the beginning and it is probably a filter. Or maybe the combination of initial questions work together to filter – age, zip code, gender, race. If responders don’t fit within the study parameters, they thank you for your time and that’s it.
I was asked for the brief summary, but no other questions. Apparently their search for understanding of why Catholics change beliefs or practices is limited to the young, or at least younger than I am. I was a practicing Catholic until five years ago – now I am not. Maybe radical changes among older (Vatican II generation?) Catholics do not interest them or are not relevant to whatever it is they are trying to understand.
The survey may be excluding on age, location, gender, or all of the above, as that’s all I was able to answer before I got the thank you page.
I was parametrically rejected like Bernard and Jean. (And my wife collects evidence as Bernard’s does.) Later clicks on the link bring thanks for my having participated.
The second most important question in evaluating a study, after “What precisely is the question being addressed?”, is on the quality and validity of the data collection. I go along with Ann’s wondering about whether the survey is set up to exclude Mac users, a distinguished sub-population long known for the endurance of its fundamental beliefs and practices in a world of ever-turbulent and buggy others.
The first time, after age, gender (male, female, other), and zip code, I did not enter my email and was immediately thanked and shown the door. The second time, I entered my email, was asked for a brief open-ended summary on changes in beliefs and practices, but no other question. Has anyone actually been asked anything else?
If you want to try it more than once (say, by changing your answer re:email), you first have to remove a cookie from surveymonkey.com. (On Safari, for example: Safari -> preferences ->privacy -> remove all website data details…)
Jack, I’m not a MAC user, so I don’t think it’s that.
When I tried to go back to say I WOULD give them my e-mail address, I got back in, but then, when I put the e-mail address in, it kicked me out again.
Claire, couldn’t you just go to another computer and try it again? In fact, I’ll do it now and report back. I’m on my lunch hour.
OK, yeah, if you use another computer, and give your e-mail, you can get in. There was just one question, which was whether your views about the Church had changed. Then it was “Thanks, maybe we’ll get back to you.”
For those who are curious about how the survey works, there are contacts on the first and last pages of the survey, so you can ask instead of speculating.
OK, maybe this is a first pass and they will send a link to a more detailed survey to selected email addresses? Generally I avoid surveys – online, on the phone, whatever. I actually wanted to participate in this one, without even knowing what it is about!