Hello :)

I'm working with a group of students from UWS on a psych project and we are interested in seeing whether Australians' views on diversity (e.g. culture, sexuality) are linked to other personal factors (e.g. Your view of Australian identity, self esteem etc). Do you think there are certain things that would make people more appreciative of diversity?

If you are interested in participating in a short 20min survey on the topic here's the link:

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/VZL795T

If you complete the survey, it would be great if you are over18 and an Australian citizen or permanent resident

Thanks!!

Seems like something to do with acceptance of certain issues one predominantly being acceptance of multiculturalism.

Lot of reversed questions, ask it in a different way to see if you answer the same.

May I ask a few question of our student teenager?
Being now well above my teens, late 60,s I can remember the views I held at about your age.
They make me blush now.
I am no longer even related to that young me.
Are you both aware of this and too that your question air may bring results you do not like.
Are we lessor for that difference.
Is it OK to just put the differences down to our age.
Or is that a benefit in such polls, living history in one person.
I will do the poll but think a cultural cringe is in existence, that unpopular views are said to be the view of folk on the margins.

I got a long way in to the thing.
But saw it as an effort to call free thinkers bigots by the second page.
Did not bother to finish.
It is as expected caste in such a way the results can be made to show any result wanted.
To the author this mate, as is the case with many false polls set in a way to get the wanted results, why not just lie?
After all such tilted polls are in the end a lie.
Muslim Migration and enclave,s is after all its own worst enemy.
Ask the grand children of past successful migrations why they both are proud of their two cultures and increasingly afraid of todays troubles.

Yeah Belly, I get the impression to that the first half of the test determines whether the respondant is a "Bigot" then the other half is a test of the levels of empathy and sympathy in "Bigoted" people.
So really all that the survey does is test a Strawman argument, ie "Bigots" must lack empathy and see things in terms of Black and White.
People who see things in black and white are usually of low intelligence, so "bigotry" isn't so much a lack of empathy or the ability to sympathise with others as much as it is a lack of the intellectual capacity to understand the world and the fact is that there are just as many plug ignorant egalitarians as there are stupid anti-egalitarians.

History tells us that it is not pride, but diversity that comes before, or perhaps during a fall.

The Rome that conquered the then world was a monoculture, the one that collapsed had become a very diverse one.

A look through history will convince any fair minded researcher of the fact that diversity causes failure. It is only a common purpose that can unite a people, & lead to greatness.

Of course, most biased researchers will find enough partial examples of whatever they want, to be able to fool some of the people some of the time

@ Philip S, yes questionnaires from previous studies were used in our one. We found they were too cultural specific (the third questionnaire) and that is why we also included more questions in the first questionnaire to ask about accepting of sexual orientation, disabilities etc. I agree, there are a lot of reverse questions, which are often used to see whether participants are just randomly responding.

@ Belly, We really appreciate your honest opinion and don't think that it is less or more valuable to our study than say a more liberal viewpoint. We're open to what may influence your views (e.g., life experience) .

@ No we don't think you are bigots. I think there are valid points for people who disagree with e.g., having to accept cultural diversity. The questionnaires were not designed by us but have been used in a previous British study, we wanted to see what the results would be in Australia

@Jay of Melbourne, once again, we don't think you are Bigots, of course people in our research group may have varying opinions on the acceptance of diversity. In fact, we are not sure what the relationship between diversity views and other personal factors (e.g., empathy) would be. Perhaps, they are separate factors, and not being welcoming of other ethnicities does not mean lower levels of empathy/ self esteem. We appreciate your honesty in the study as it would help in our understnading of these relationships.

@ Hasbeen, we are just interested in your honest responses regarding your personal views. Of course, some researchers may desire an increase of diversity appreciation in society, but ultimately we would like to see whether there are any patterns at all in our data. Our research will also most likely remain unpublished.

Ultimately, whatever your views maybe we do appreciate your input

“more appreciative of diversity” ?

Please advise Dr Michael Hough that if he wants some tips on “push polling” he can contact the ABC. I think it’s time we reduced sociology funding to about 10% of total Uni. budgets.

Sorry dleu3071 but surely you still have time to switch to a course that does not call opinion surveys “empirical”.

@ spindoc Yep, I realised that the wording may seem positively spun after posting it. Maybe 'align with or against diversity' is better.

But more importantly, do you think there are certain individual differences in people who are for diversity (not just cultural) compared with those against? or is it just their views that are different?

Hasbeen is right!

<<History tells us that it is not pride, but diversity that comes before, or perhaps during a fall.>>

Then bye-bye Pride; welcome, Fall.

<<The Rome that conquered the then world was a monoculture, the one that collapsed had become a very diverse one.>>

Good riddance, Conquerors.

<<A look through history will convince any fair minded researcher of the fact that diversity causes failure.>>

Welcome, Failure.

<<It is only a common purpose that can unite a people, & lead to greatness.>>

Farewell, Enforced-Common-Purpose.
Farewell, Greatness and puffed ego.

--- Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth ---

(and thank you dleu3071 for letting me voice my above views through your survey)

Are you a closeminded, jingoistic, passive robot who likes torturing small animals and making coloured people cry?

A. Strongly agree
B. Moderately agree
C. Moderately disagree
D. Strongly disagree

Tell our author this much.
First my history, sent to Villawood a Sydney suburb at age 16 to work, from my country village.
Worked as the only Aussie with Italians Greeks and Maltese, leaned a great deal from them.
And formed life long friend ships.
Mum was one of 13kids and her sisters had many one 13 too.
Mum? 16 births live still.
Oldest girl lived in inner City and had? 13 kids, not an unlucky number for us.
We saw wedding in to just about every nation in Europe in that large family.
Until the 1970,s I never thought of migration as other than a great nation building thing.
That inflow from Lebanon concerned me, but I was not to know it in time would be seen as a very real danger to this country.
The end of the Asian war bought more concerns, not bigotry but concerns.
Now, if you look at that you will have trouble finding racism in this 1945 model old bloke, but wait!
I not unlike the children and grand children of all the above, highlighting those born from that migration.
Do not like Muslim Migration!
Not a race but a faith and yes, hate me for it! a religion! and the actions of that weird and confronting faith.
Tell me I am wrong.
But how would I go thongs and gut hanging over stubbys walking down any street in any country they came from?
And dare I? off course I dare I am standard issue Australian!
We would never ever think of letting any Christian Church govern us!
The world could come together without any of them.
Tell me one more time how do I tell a moderate Muslim from a burning car flogging idiot?
Why do some dress as we see daily if integration is their wish.
Why are so very many on our welfare from the day they arrived?
Hope it helps, you now have the thoughts of an Aussie bigot/honest man you pick.

Shockadelic that's gold.

It seemed to me an exercise in identifying narcissists near the end. I think I got a distinction. But diversity and multiculturalism don't bother me in the slightest, so that may make a mess of the correlations they are attempting to manufacture.

@ Belly, it is understandable from your life history and the points you raised that migration concerns you because it can bring change to the culture and expected norms in our society. I appreciate your opinion and don't think that it is any lesser than another point of view

@ Yuyutsu, shockadelic and Houellebecq, we appreciate your participation.

@ Houellebecq Maybe being ok with diversity (sexual, cultural and mental health) wise doesn't mean that it would reflect a greater sense of empathy. It may seem that the two would be related, but maybe it isn't. It'll be interesting to see what the results are though.

Sorry bloke!
I must underline a truth.
Many more Aussies agree with it.
Muslim migration is quite different than any other.
And while I am happy with all those others.
I will never be alone in questioning the wiseness, its absents in fact, of linking migration to a separate issue.
Muslims are in my view unwanted and an ever present danger.

Houellebecq “so that may make a mess of the correlations they are attempting to manufacture.”

There seems to be an intention to confirm existing presumptions.
You support all forms of diversity or you're a psychopath.

And if one questions “diversity” one never questions the government (never mind that diversity has been government policy for years now).

Their presumption that people who support “the nation” support “the government” will also mess things up.
Those are treated as synonyms, but my attitudes to each are virtually opposite.

I loved the conflation of “conventional” with “uncreative”. Classic!