I am a Sociology Graduate student working on a master’s thesis involving Atheists, and I was wondering if anyone was willing to do an interview with me.
Interviews take about an hour, and will ask about participant’s religious past and Atheist identity/experience.
Participants must be above the age of 18 and self-identify as Atheist.
If anyone is interested you can post contact information in the forum or e-mail me at N481C658@ku.edu.
Thanks
I am a Sociology Graduate student working on a master’s thesis involving Atheists, and I was wondering if anyone was willing to do an interview with me. Interviews take about an hour, and will ask about participant’s religious past and Atheist identity/experience. Participants must be above the age of 18 and self-identify as Atheist. If anyone is interested you can post contact information in the forum or e-mail me at N481C658@ku.edu. ThanksYou want an hours worth of interview time but you posted about a minutes worth of information about yourself and your project? If you expand on that a little we might be more welcoming to the idea. Of course, I really only speak for myself but I think you get the picture. MzLee
You said it well, Mz. Often initial posts like that are really cons trying to get someone sucked into either a commercial thing or possibly to try to convert the person, or even to slip in a virus.
Occam
I am happy to answer questions anyone might have about me or the research, however I try not to share excessively for fear of corrupting the sample. If you tell people exactly what you are looking for, quite often you only find exactly what you are looking for. As far as the research goes I am primarily interested in the ways in which Atheists interact with society, and vice versa. This may also seem a bit too vague for some, but I’m not sure how much more I can say without effecting what people will tell me.
When it comes to me, I am happy to share whatever people would like to know. Rest assured this is not a commercial thing or an attempt to convert anyone, as Occam suggested. I am a graduate student at the University of Kansas, and I’m in Michigan for the summer. The project and I have been vetted by a review board and approved. Also, I am an Athiest myself so there should be no fear of conversion attempts.
If there is anything else anyone needs to know just ask. I hope this cleared things up a bit for you.
I think you should explain what you mean by ATHEIST.
I decided I was an agnostic at 12 and regard atheism and agnosticism as separate ways of thinking. But atheists seem to have changed the definition in the last couple of decades.
But if someone asks me about a survey of atheists then I presume that it doesn’t involve me.
psik
Two questions
- Is this a live interview or is it a questionnaire we can fill out at our own convenience?
- I assume there will be no identifying information tied to the answers? People here might feel less inclined to answer personal questions from a complete stranger if they are going to have to identify themselves
Atheism is simply a label that covers a specific issue of belief: “Do you believe in a god?”
Answer yes, you’re a theist. Answer anything else, including “I don’t know”, you’re an atheist.
There is no middle ground, you have to be one or other and it’s merely a term to describe whether you hold to a specific claim or not.
Agnostic simply refers to your knowledge on a issue. You can be an agnostic atheist or agnostic theist, or gnostic one interchangeably.
In regards to this specific issue:
Atheist: doesn’t believe in a god.
Theist: does believe in a god.
Agnostic: doesn’t claim to know if there is a god.
Gnostic: claims to know if there is a god.
Apatheist: doesn’t care about the issue.
You can be a agnostic atheist apathiest, which is a short way of saying “I don’t know if there is a god, I don’t believe in a god and I don’t care about the issue.”
The above terms only get confused by those who don’t understand them or who (often) try to weasel out of being called an atheist because they think the term implies something beyond what it actually does.
I myself would be labeled an gnostic atheist. I don’t believe in a god and I know there isn’t one to the same degree of certainty I can know most things.
In response to some of the questions:
I actually don’t care how the individual defines Atheist, my only concern is that the people I interview define themselves as an Atheist, whatever that means to them. Though I think Mr. Walper’s definitions are pretty good, if anyone is still not sure how to define themselves. I would also be interested to know why you have chosen to be agnostic, and in what ways you think the definition has changed over time. Just for my own curiosity though, I believe it is outside the scope of my project.
As to Macgyver’s questions
- It is in fact a live interview not a questionnaire, though we can do it via Skype rather than in person.
- It is entirely anonymous, I won’t even ask your name, and after I transcribe the interview I will destroy the recording to ensure anonymity.
If I missed any questions please be sure to point them out to me.
I think you should explain what you mean by ATHEIST. I decided I was an agnostic at 12 and regard atheism and agnosticism as separate ways of thinking. But atheists seem to have changed the definition in the last couple of decades. But if someone asks me about a survey of atheists then I presume that it doesn't involve me. psikIn what way do you think atheists have changed the definition of atheist! In my experience, itvhadps been theists who have changed the definition. What is YOUR definition of "atheist?"
This is the kind of definition you would have usually seen before about 1980:
athe·ist noun \ˈ-thē-ist\ : a person who believes that God does not existhttp://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/atheist This is the more recent definition:
atheist (ˈeɪθɪˌɪst) n 1. (Philosophy) a person who does not believe in God or godshttp://www.thefreedictionary.com/atheist Notice the: "does not believe in God or gods" An agnostic "does not believe" in God or gods. But that change in the definition drags the agnostics into the camp with atheists. I did not notice any such ambiguity in the 60s. It is as though the atheists have changed the definition from "No God" to "Not a Theist". An agnostic is not a theist but does not assert that there is no God or gods. He simply regards that state as one of the possibilities which has not been proven. psik