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Quote:The WZB-funded Six Country Immigrant Integration Comparative Survey (SCIICS) among immigrants and natives in Germany, France, the Netherlands, Belgium, Austria and Sweden provides for the first time a solid empirical basis for these debates. The survey with a total sample size of 9,000 respondents was conducted in 2008 among persons with a Turkish or Moroccan immigration background, as well as a native comparison group. Following the widely accepted definition of fundamentalism of Bob Altermeyer and Bruce Hunsberger, the fundamentalism belief system is defined by three key elements:
- that believers should return to the eternal and unchangeable rules laid down in the past;
- that these rules allow only one interpretation and are binding for all believers;
- that religious rules have priority over secular laws.
and the summary:
Quote:These findings clearly contradict the often-heard claim that Islamic religious fundamentalism is a marginal phenomenon in Western Europe or that it does not differ from the extent of fundamentalism among the Christian majority. Both claims are blatantly false, as almost half of European Muslims agree that Muslims should return to the roots of Islam, that there is only one interpretation of the Koran, and that the rules laid down in it are more important than secular laws. Among native Christians, less than one in 25 can be characterized as fundamentalists in this sense. Religious fundamentalism is moreover not an innocent form of strict religiosity, as its strong relationship – among both Christians and Muslims – to hostility towards out-groups demonstrates.
The number of respondents is very low; given the number of muslims in Europe, this sample size can't be considered representative (I just put it through my sample-size calculator and was given a 60% confidence level). Only having Turkish & Morrocan muslims as respondents may give bias and there's no split by islamic denomination (e.g. sunni, shia, suffist etc.). Additionally, some of the countries in question have enacted legislation to control islam (e.g. France banning the niqab) which could further skew the results. The questions are very broad and don't try to identify 'flavours' of fundamentalism.
There are some good points to this survey: using countries with different % muslims amongst their populations, the definitions of fundamentalism, control groups were used, comparisons to the majority religion were made for context.
Overall, I can't say I'm satisfied with the results. If they can expand the sample population to something more representative, provide better interpretation by having better definitions of respondents and remove some of the crass generalisation by increasing the number of questions then I'd be more prepared to listen.
The number of respondents is very low; given the number of muslims in Europe, this sample size can't be considered representative (I just put it through my sample-size calculator and was given a 60% confidence level). Only having Turkish & Morrocan muslims as respondents may give bias and there's no split by islamic denomination (e.g. sunni, shia, suffist etc.). Additionally, some of the countries in question have enacted legislation to control islam (e.g. France banning the niqab) which could further skew the results. The questions are very broad and don't try to identify 'flavours' of fundamentalism.
There are some good points to this survey: using countries with different % muslims amongst their populations, the definitions of fundamentalism, control groups were used, comparisons to the majority religion were made for context.
Overall, I can't say I'm satisfied with the results. If they can expand the sample population to something more representative, provide better interpretation by having better definitions of respondents and remove some of the crass generalisation by increasing the number of questions then I'd be more prepared to listen.
It's an interesting start though.
I would think that there would be more moderate Moslems among Turkish and Moroccan immigrants than among Saudi or Yemeni immigrants, for instance.
You can't go forcing something if it's just not right. Green Day
The number of respondents is very low; given the number of muslims in Europe, this sample size can't be considered representative (I just put it through my sample-size calculator and was given a 60% confidence level). Only having Turkish & Morrocan muslims as respondents may give bias and there's no split by islamic denomination (e.g. sunni, shia, suffist etc.). Additionally, some of the countries in question have enacted legislation to control islam (e.g. France banning the niqab) which could further skew the results. The questions are very broad and don't try to identify 'flavours' of fundamentalism.
There are some good points to this survey: using countries with different % muslims amongst their populations, the definitions of fundamentalism, control groups were used, comparisons to the majority religion were made for context.
Overall, I can't say I'm satisfied with the results. If they can expand the sample population to something more representative, provide better interpretation by having better definitions of respondents and remove some of the crass generalisation by increasing the number of questions then I'd be more prepared to listen.
It's an interesting start though.
I would think that there would be more moderate Moslems among Turkish and Moroccan immigrants than among Saudi or Yemeni immigrants, for instance.
Indeed. I'm not denying the possibility that the results might be pertinent, just that they're unreliable given the factors that I listed. There's so much misinformation out there and this is such a sensitive subject that published studies, in my opinion, should hold themselves to the very highest standards.
1.I live in a Muslim ghetto in France (there are between 20-40%). I can hear many conversations with an anti-Semitic tense and a homophobic tense without forget that the majority of them think that 911 is a Jewish conspiracy.
2.This article is from a magazine about sociology managed by "Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin für Sozialforschung gGmbH" also called "WZB".
3.I did saw the legal notice on the official website of WZB.
4.The register number (Registereintrag in German) is real. See here.
5.The same for Umsatzsteuer-ID (value added tax identification number in English) : go on this website sponsored by WZB.
6.In the link that I gave at the point n°5 you can find a link at "Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung" (Federal Ministry of Education and Research in German).
