OVERALL SURVEY RESULTS
Between January and March, 2010 a series of three surveys were administered through youth pastors and/or youth workers to both youth in the church and those outside the church: A happiness survey designed to determine what causes youth pleasure and/or makes them feel satisfied, a concerns survey designed to indicate what contemporary youth are most concerned about, and an influences survey. For the purposes of this study the data was used to analyze the results of all three surveys and compare them between both those inside the church (referred to as "insiders") and those outside the church (referred to as "outsiders").
Purpose of Surveys
In working effectively with contemporary youth there is great value in understanding what motivates and/or influences their thoughts and actions. These surveys were designed to give youth themselves an opportunity to creatively reflect on their own motivations and influences as well as to give others a greater understanding of overall trends in motivations and drives among the youth in our culture. It is our hope that these results and the continued studies of youth and youth culture will better equip both youth themselves and those who work with them to effect change in the cultures and localities in which they live and work.
Research Method
Surveys were administered to youth in, aged 11-19, in group and/or individual settings, via students in a course at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary entitled "Effective Relationships, Healing and Growth in Youth Ministry." Surveys were separated by group and then analyzed using data and statistical analysis tools in Microsoft Excel. Respondent group "outsiders" were determined by both prior knowledge of youth and by word of mouth, and are defined as those who are not currently nor have ever been involved in a Christian church or other Christian group. Respondent group "insiders" were also determined by prior knowledge of individual youth church involvement as well as current participation in Christian youth groups. They are defined as youth who are currently involved in a church and/or a church youth group.
Average responses were determined by collecting all data from completed surveys, adding the responses from individual items and dividing by the total number of responses. They were then compiled and presented in graph format, as shown in the results presented.
Sample Size
Sample sizes for each survey, as well as individual results for these surveys, can be found be clicking on either of the following links:
Findings
The following is a side-by-side comparison of results, followed by a general analysis, of all three surveys
(PLEASE NOTE: Remember to read these results "backwards." In all three surveys, youth were asked to rate each item on a scale of 1 to 16 (for the happiness survey), 1 to 20 (for the influences survey) or 1 to 25 (for the concerns survey). In all surveys the instructions were to rate 1 as highest (influence, concern, etc) to 16, 20, or 25 as lowest. Therefore, the lower the average response the higher the influence, etc.)
Comparison of Happiness Survey Results
As this graph shows, the findings indicate that overall fame makes those inside the church less happy than those outside the church. Also, overall family and friends make youth inside the church happier than those outside the church. Not surprisingly, one of the greatest differences between those inside and those outside the church occurs in religion (personal faith and/or spirituality). The findings indicate that religion makes those inside the church much happier than those outside the church (with an average response of 5.14 for insiders compared to 8.16 for outsiders).
Comparison of Influences Survey Results
The overall results of this survey are not entirely surprising. Parents are shown to be a higher influence than celebrities for both insider and outsider groups, while video games have a higher influence overall than books or the media. Also, those inside the church are much more influenced by religious faith than those outside the church (an average response of 5.89 for insiders versus 10.66 for outsiders). Pornography influenced the youth who responded to the surveys the least, but is more of an influence for those inside the church than those outside. In addition, the media has less of an influence on those inside the church than those outside. Taken alongside the results from the influences of religious faith, this indicates that religious faith has a positive affect on what youth chose to be influenced by.
Comparison of Concerns Survey Results (2 charts)
The results here show that wars are of greatest concern to the youth surveyed, which is not surprising given the current wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere in the world. Perhaps more surprising however is that racism is shown here to be of greater concern for both outsiders and insiders than drugs and sex or even money. This is an indication that racism is still an issue of concern today for our youth, in many cases more so than many other prevalent societal issues such as pressures to have sex and/or use drugs.
Overall suicide is of greater concern for outsiders than insiders (with an average response of 9.70 for those outside the church and 11.07 for those inside the church).
Caution:
Small sample sizes, particularly for those outside the church, as well as the common tendency for those taking these surveys to misread instructions or not take these surveys seriously all influence these results.
Nevertheless, they are a good indication of the overall prevailing influences on contemporary youth culture, both of those youth inside the church and of those youth outside the church.
QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION AND DISCUSSION
1. Were there any results of these surveys that surprised you? What were they and why did you find them surprising?
2. How useful do you think this survey and others like it are as tools for understanding youth and youth culture?
3. How can these results be used to improve our work with youth and young adults?
Chris Lloyd, cCYS