Frequently Asked Questions About the Youth Ministry Survey
Can I find out the results for my congregation?Sorry, the survey data will not be broken down by congregation. The best way to learn from the youth in your congregation about what they want from your congregation's youth ministry is to invite them to actively participate in the congregational conversations in spring 2006.
Why isn't this an online survey?
The online vs. paper question is one that the Task Force considered carefully
and discussed with our survey consultant. We came to the conclusion that the
best way to reach the most diverse group of youth is to distribute it through
YRUU, district youth and adult leaders, stakeholder organizations, religious
educators, and youth advisors, which would pretty much cover youth with various
involvements in the Association. Therefore, an online survey would be redundant.
We also had some concerns with just posting a survey link on the web or distributing it through email. Online surveys seeking statistical reliability are almost always done by sending out email invitations to a pre-recruited panel of participants. Our UU population numbers are not big enough to find sufficient panel participants, and our list of email addresses for youth is not very complete. In addition:
- Typical response rate on an online survey that does not have a credible
invitation with a direct link is less than 1 - 2%. Online survey response
for programs where the link is embedded in a personalized email is around 20%.
- We have very little idea about who is completing the survey if the link is not sent out in a personalized invitation. If the survey link is only posted on listservs and websites, youth who do not access those sites would not have a voice in the process, possibly biasing the results.
With our goal of hearing from a large and diverse body of youth in mind, we chose to offer the survey in paper format only.
For your convenience, the survey can be returned by fax or pre-paid mail. The back page of the survey doubles as a mailer. All you have to do is fold, tape/staple, and drop in your nearest mailbox!
Why is the survey only for youth?
The Task Force on Ministry to and With Youth decided to offer the
survey only to youth ages 12-20. This decision was made, in part, in response to
a request from the YRUU Youth Council that we include as many youth as possible
in the survey process. We felt this was most appropriate because it is the voice
and experience of youth that should inform our intergenerational dialogues about
youth ministry. We should be asking youth, "What do you think?" before
dialoguing about how to better minister with youth. Adults and youth will have a
chance to share and work together in the setting of the congregational
conversation, but we wanted to offer a space exclusively for youth to
participate in the process.
Questions 38 and 39 ask demographic information such as gender and sexual
or affectional orientation, but they use language that I'm not familiar with
and/or is not a part of the Our Whole Lives curriculum. Can you explain?
When designing the survey we had to decide between creating a survey that
makes sense to all who see it and making a survey in which the most people will
see their identity reflected. Our youth (and adults) identify with a variety of
gender and affectional orientations, so we felt it was important to reflect that
in this survey. The terminology may confuse some youth, but it also presents
youth with an opportunity to learn something new.
Here are some brief definitions from Wikipedia, for words that may be new to some people. We encourage you to research this further.
- Pansexual—"Pansexuality is a sexual orientation, distinct from
bisexuality and characterized by potential aesthetic attraction, romantic love
and sexual desire for anybody, including those people who don't fit into the
gender binary of male/female implied by bisexual attraction."
- Queer—"A term [used by] people whose sexual orientation and/or
gender identity or gender expression does not conform to heteronormative
societal norms."
- Genderqueer—"A genderqueer person is part of a group of people who do not fit into the traditional two-gender or gender-binary system. As with any other groups that may be aligned with transgender identities, the reasons for identifying as genderqueer vary."
If you decide that you do not want to answer questions 34-39, please fill out the rest of the survey. It's better to omit those questions than to be excluded from the survey entirely!
Question from Adults Distributing the Survey to Youth
I'm uncomfortable giving questions 34-39 to youth as young as
12-years-old. Why are these personal questions included? If we're not
comfortable distributing those questions, are there other options?
These questions are included in the survey for a few reasons:
- Just the inclusion of these questions helps increase awareness of the
diversity that exists in our denomination. We need to let our youth know that no
matter how they identify, they are welcome.
- The responses to these questions show us whose voice is included in the
survey, and which youth we need to do a better job of reaching out to to ensure
that their input is included in the Consultation on Ministry To and With Youth.
- It has become increasingly clear recently that all levels of our Association need to provide stronger ministry to/with youth with marginalized identities. In order to strengthen this ministry, it is important to hear from the youth themselves what their experiences have been and what they want from Unitarian Universalist communities.
This part of the survey will help us answer these and other questions: What are the unique experiences/needs of younger youth vs. older youth? What are the unique experiences/needs of GLBPTQQI youth? What are the unique experiences/needs of Youth of Color? What are the unique experiences/needs of locally involved youth vs. district youth vs. continental youth? What are the unique experiences/needs of youth with different family/living situations?
There are ways to ensure that taking the survey is a positive and educational experience for all youth. Setting aside one class or youth group session to sit down together and fill them out individually is one possibility, so that there can be discussion to follow. You may also want to inform the youth's parents about the survey, so that they know what their youth are taking part in. The encouragement of parents can also reinforce the importance of this survey.
If you decide that you do not want to have youth answer questions 34-39, please have them fill out the rest of the survey. It's better to omit those questions than to have their voices excluded from the survey!
For more information contact youthconsultatuuadotorg.
Last updated on Friday, March 23, 2007.
