| Q. What is this study about? |
| A. This is a study of how people understand the Supreme Being. We are also interested in how each person's thoughts about the Deity are related to his or her background and self-perception |
| Q. Who can participate? |
| A. Anyone over the age of 18 may participate in this study. We are interested in hearing from adherents of all faiths, including people who are not active in a religious organization. We are also very interested in hearing from the non-religious. |
| Q. Why do I need to be 18 in order to participate? |
| A. According to federal regulations, potential participants under 18 cannot legally give informed consent to participate in scientific research. We have no option but to require that all participants be at least 18 years old. |
| Q. How does this study work? |
| A. The study consists of two parts. In one you will answer a number of questions about how you perceive yourself. In the other, you will answer a similar set of questions about how you perceive God. After submitting an e-mail address indicating interest in the study, you will receive an e-mail telling you how to access the first part of the study. Seven days later you will receive a follow-up e-mail with information about how to access the second part of the study. |
| Q. Why do you ask participants to choose between God and Allah when participating? What difference does this choice make? |
| A. Although these two names are generally understood as referring to the same God of Abraham, the terminology used can potentially affect how an individual thinks about the deity. For this study, we simply ask that you choose the term for the Supreme Being with which you are most comfortable and familiar when thinking about Him. The questionnaires are exactly the same (same questions, same layout), except wherever one makes a reference to "God", the other uses the name "Allah" instead. |
| Q. Why do you use masculine pronouns when referring to the Supreme Being? What if I believe that the Deity is feminine or has no discernable gender? |
| A. Historically, the scriptures of the three Abrahamic traditions have referred to God or Allah as a masculine entity. This masculine attribution continues to be the predominant practice among the majority of believers today. To maintain consistency, we have continued this practice for the purposes of this study. If you personally do not believe that the use of masculine pronouns is appropriate when referring to the Supreme Being, we invite you to substitute mentally your preferred terminology in place of masculine references. |
| Q. What if I'm an atheist or agnostic? How should I respond to questions about something I don't believe in, or am uncertain about? |
| A. Although you may not personally believe in a Supreme Deity, you almost certainly have some concept of this thing in which you do not believe. Most of us, for example, do not believe in unicorns, but could easily describe them and list their characteristics as we have come to know them from various stories and discussions. In answering the questions in the survey, you should draw on the understanding you have acquired of God or Allah from a variety of cultural sources, even though you may not personally believe that there is a supernatural entity with that title. |
| Q. Why do you require an e-mail address for participation? |
| A. We require an e-mail address for a number of reasons. A valid e-mail address is an indication that you are a real person giving informed consent to participate in this study. We send information about how to access the study to the e-mail address you provide. In addition, we use your e-mail address to send a reminder to complete the second survey about a week after you finish the first part. Once you are finished with both parts, we make sure that your email address is disconnected from your responses so that no one, not even the researchers, will know who provided the answers. Finally, if you indicate a desire for further information about the study and its results in the future, we will use this e-mail address to contact you. If you feel uncomfortable using an established e-mail address, we suggest that you create a new address using one of the many free services available online, such as Yahoo! |
| Q. Will anyone know how I answered the questions on the survey? |
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A. The information you submit is encrypted using the same level of security used for credit card information. Interception of your information is HIGHLY unlikely, but if that does happen, it cannot be read without the encryption key held only by the web host. Once received, the data are password protected and accessible to the study researchers only. We will ask for your email address to confirm your agreement to participate, but once you have completed the study, this information will be deleted. No unique information that could identify you will be stored with your data. Please note that security of your information on your computer is your responsibility. Be sure that your information cannot be viewed by others while you fill out the questionnaire, and make sure to close your browser when you have finished the survey . This will prevent other users from accessing your information |
| Q. What will the results of this study be used for? |
| A. Results from this study will be used in preparation of a scientific article intended for publication in a peer-reviewed scientific journal. The results will also be posted to this web site once the study is complete, so that you can see a summary of our findings. |
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