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"What is your religious affiliation" makes absolutely no sense in a census exercise. IMO.

by Rygian 4mo ago

yoyohello13 4mo ago
Unless you’re a government explicitly and openly aligned with Christian nationalists.
twoodfin 4mo ago
The U.S. Census Bureau collects tons of data unrelated to the decennial counting for Congressional apportionment. https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys.html https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys.html The American Community Survey is the most well-known, as it replaced the “long form” sampling that had been an extension to the Census.
mschuster91 4mo ago
It actually does. Religious affinity can absolutely be useful for longer trend studies, and census data is usually of much, much higher quality than other random sample studies.
- Rygian 4mo ago
  With that perspective, how do you prevent scope creep when preparing a census exercise? You would collect everything and the shape of each house's kitchen sink, because "it can be useful".
  - mschuster91 4mo ago
    Generally, by looking at what other nations do, what academia asks of us, and what studies are being undertaken by academia.
talon8635 4mo ago
The point might be going over my head… why does it make no sense?
- iririririr 4mo ago
  why it makes sense? please try to answer. what action of the gov would change based on that data? then, make it so your answer is more valid than if they asked what you usually have for breakfast. i guarantee you more gov actions can be positively impacted by the breakfast question than the religion one. the ONLY use for religious data is to get it for free for campaigns.
  - talon8635 4mo ago
    Isn’t religion, for those who follow it (I don’t), one of if not the most important aspects of their identity and life’s purpose? I love breakfast food, but not that much. Don’t some religions not get along very well? Given your criteria, what should be asked? Check the boxes for the physical and mental illnesses you have? What’s your BMI? How much time do you spend online? What percent of your diet is highly processed foods? Is gender/sex also nonsensical? Is languages spoken also nonsensical?
    - adastra22 4mo ago
      They are asking what policy decisions hinge on that religion question. Given 1st amendment protections against government policy that favors one religion over another, I think that’s a fair question to ask.
      - talon8635 4mo ago
        Don’t some countries in EU have face covering bans that have to take religious practices into consideration? Isn’t (non) taxation of religious institutions an ongoing debate? Wouldn’t knowing religious census data aid in exploring that? Those are two things that’s popped into my head immediately. If I thought about it for an extended period of time, especially if I knew more about governed t and law, I’m sure there would be other avenues of consideration.
        adastra22 4mo ago

"What is your religious affiliation" makes absolutely no sense in a census exercise. IMO.

by Rygian 4mo ago

"What is your religious affiliation" makes absolutely no sense in a census exercise. IMO.

yoyohello13 4mo ago

Unless you’re a government explicitly and openly aligned with Christian nationalists.

twoodfin 4mo ago

The U.S. Census Bureau collects tons of data unrelated to the decennial counting for Congressional apportionment. https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys.html https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys.html The American Community Survey is the most well-known, as it replaced the “long form” sampling that had been an extension to the Census.

mschuster91 4mo ago

It actually does. Religious affinity can absolutely be useful for longer trend studies, and census data is usually of much, much higher quality than other random sample studies.

Rygian 4mo ago
With that perspective, how do you prevent scope creep when preparing a census exercise? You would collect everything and the shape of each house's kitchen sink, because "it can be useful".
- mschuster91 4mo ago
  Generally, by looking at what other nations do, what academia asks of us, and what studies are being undertaken by academia.

talon8635 4mo ago

The point might be going over my head… why does it make no sense?

iririririr 4mo ago
why it makes sense? please try to answer. what action of the gov would change based on that data? then, make it so your answer is more valid than if they asked what you usually have for breakfast. i guarantee you more gov actions can be positively impacted by the breakfast question than the religion one. the ONLY use for religious data is to get it for free for campaigns.
- talon8635 4mo ago
  Isn’t religion, for those who follow it (I don’t), one of if not the most important aspects of their identity and life’s purpose? I love breakfast food, but not that much. Don’t some religions not get along very well? Given your criteria, what should be asked? Check the boxes for the physical and mental illnesses you have? What’s your BMI? How much time do you spend online? What percent of your diet is highly processed foods? Is gender/sex also nonsensical? Is languages spoken also nonsensical?
  - adastra22 4mo ago
    They are asking what policy decisions hinge on that religion question. Given 1st amendment protections against government policy that favors one religion over another, I think that’s a fair question to ask.
    - talon8635 4mo ago
      Don’t some countries in EU have face covering bans that have to take religious practices into consideration? Isn’t (non) taxation of religious institutions an ongoing debate? Wouldn’t knowing religious census data aid in exploring that? Those are two things that’s popped into my head immediately. If I thought about it for an extended period of time, especially if I knew more about governed t and law, I’m sure there would be other avenues of consideration.
      - adastra22 4mo ago