Member survey "Environment and Religion"
As part of the research project What are the greening dynamics of religion?, we are currently conducting a member survey on the topic on "Environment and Religion" in randomly selected religious communities throughout Switzerland.
Whether you are interested in the environment and sustainability or not, your answers are very important for our research. Your participation is important for the robustness of our findings. Your information will treated in the strictest confidence.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
The research project examines the dynamics of the 'greening' of religious organizations. "Greening" refers to a process by which religions become more environmentally friendly. To explore these dynamics, we examine different levels and their interactions: religious umbrella organizations, communities and congregationand their members. More information is available here.
The project and the survey are funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF). Detailed information on the SNSF project can be found here.
The survey is aimed at adults aged 18 and over and is conducted locally in randomly selected religious communities.
The questions are mainly about the topic of the environment (attitudes, behavior) and the perception of one's own community with in relation to this topic. In addition, there are some standard socio-demographic questions that are important for the interpretation of the results.
We are aware that the survey requires some effort. We have therefore tried to keep this effort as low as possible. The survey takes about 10 minutes to complete. As compensation for your time and effort, you will receive a voucher of CHF 10 from the survey team on site.
Data protection is guaranteed by the Federal Law on Data Protection (SR 235.1). The data protection of the survey is fully guaranteed and participation is completely anonymous and strictly confidential. No one, not even the the research team, will be able to identify you based on your participation. The results and data that will be published do not contain any identifiers. Neither sensitive nor highly sensitive personal data will be collected. The research project has been approved by the Ethics Committee of the University of Basel.
You can also withdraw your consent to the survey during the survey. Your data will then be deleted by default. Please note that we cannot delete your anonymized data once it has been submitted, as it is no longer possible to identify which data came from you.
No. Your responses will be strictly anonymous. Upon request, church leaders will receive a summary of the responses in aggregate form, so no individual data will be provided.
The results are published in professional articles and scientific publications. Your community will also receive an anonymous report with key statistics on request.
The data stored after the project will not contain any possible identifiers. The data will initially be used to answer research questions as part of our study on environment and religion. The data will then be archived on the research platform www.swissubase.ch and made available for further research.
For further information, please contact Dr. Anastas Odermatt, who is part of the research team (anastas.odermatt@clutterunibas.ch).