Geoffrey Durham (left) with David Smith before the presentation. Photo: Photo: Trish Carn.
Seeing ourselves as others see us
Philip Barron reports on the results of market research into how the public views the Quaker faith
The Good News: people have heard of the Quakers. The Bad News: a lot of them think we are fundamentalists. These were two of the conclusions drawn from a wide market research survey backed by Quaker Quest that may change how Friends tackle outreach in future. The research was organised by David Smith, former president of the Market Research Society, who gave his services free, and the interview costs were funded by Jospeh Rowntree Charitable Trust. It was carried out in June, involving a random sample of 1,000 people (enough for the results to be valid indicators) in England, Scotland and Wales. The methodology used for the telephone interviews ensured that the survey covered a representative cross-section of all social classes from across the nation. Respondents were not told immediately that the survey was on behalf of Quakers but that it was about ‘awareness of different organisations and institutions in the community’.