A Survey on International Atheist Community

Dr. Tom Arcaro, Professor of
Sociology, Elon University,
US and his team
are conducting an online survey on international community of atheists.  It
is an exercise in understanding the community of non-believers the world over.
Though it is designed to be an international survey, so far it has elicited
responses mostly from US and Canada. 

Atheist friends and colleagues,

 

I write to ask your assistance on
getting the word out about a survey designed to help us better understand the
world of atheists.

 

I am a sociologist at Elon University
and have been researching atheists and atheism for the last five years. I have
amassed a team here at Elon to support me in doing this research, and we will
all be quite honored to make a modest contribution to the cause of atheism. Our
main goal is to serve the atheist community.

 

What do we know about the make-up
of the atheist community both here in the United States and around the world?
What are the perceptions of atheists about the state of atheism-related
organizations and what these entities can or should do for them? What are the
perceptions of atheists about believers? What types of atheists are there? How
does being an atheist impact how one navigates in the social world? What is the
demographic makeup of the atheist community both in the United States
and around the world? What similarities and differences are there among atheists
of different genders, ages, and geographical locations?

 

Though one can find answers to
these questions in various books, articles, blogs and forums, having a robust,
fresh set of survey data can serve to deepen, clarify, and expand on what we
already know -or assume we know- about the world of atheists. The intent of
this survey is to generate such a data set and thus assist atheist-oriented
organizations better to understand and serve the atheist community. All
relevant data (and analysis thereof) will be made available to the leadership
of appropriate atheist- oriented organizations.

 

Getting the word out about this
survey is critical so that we may hear the voices of as many atheists as is
possible and, ultimately, work together to make ours a world where atheists are
both understood and represented.

 

The url for the survey is http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/HDJ5C6L.
I have also set up a web site for the survey at www.servingatheists.org that
will serve as a place people can go for updates, preliminary reports on the
data, and also to offer comments.

 

Thank you in advance for your
assistance.

 

Dr. Tom Arcaro

Professor of Sociology

Elon University

Elon, NC
27244