A national longitudinal study of Muslim diversity and flourishing (aka Muslim Diversity Study or MDS)

What does MDS want to achieve and how is it connected to my other projects?
Muslim diversity
MDS
Panel data
Longitudinal
Islamophobia
Terrorism
Far-right extermism
Prejudice
Muslims
NZAVS
Warmth
Feeling thermometer
New Zealand
Qualitative
Author

Usman Afzali

Modified

Tuesday, June 11, 2024

This project is funded by the Templeton Religion Trust and has been explained in further details in my postdoc research section tab. We simply call it the Muslim Diversity Study or MDS, in which I lead a team of 20+ researchers and various collaborators from New Zealand and overseas.

NZAVS is a nationally representative panel study of New Zealanders that started in 2009. It is currently following 38,551 participants, almost 1% of the New Zealand’s adult population. Over 20% of NZAVS survey items were developed with global virtue experts to specifically investigate the interplay of religion, virtue, and flourishing as people age. Despite strong NZAVS coverage of New Zealand’s population, less than 2% of New Zealand’s Muslims are currently participating in the study (n = 70). The proposed project will build on existing Muslim community partnerships to boost the NZAVS Muslim sample by 3000 participants, thus enabling to explore Muslim flourishing longitudinally on a national level.

Publications

The following publications by our team of the New Zealand Attitudes and Values Study led to this project:

  1. Bulbulia et al. (2023). Long-term causal effects of far-right terrorism in New Zealand.
  2. Byrne et al. (2022). Psychological impact of far-right terrorism against Muslim minorities on national distress, community, and wellbeing.
  3. Shanaah et al. (2021). Hate begets warmth? The impact of an anti-Muslim terrorist attack on public attitudes toward Muslims.
  4. Sibley et al. (2020). Prejudice toward Muslims in New Zealand: Insights from the New Zealand Attitudes and Values Study.
  5. Yogeeswaran et al. (2019). Exploring New Zealand National Identity and Its Importance for Attitudes toward Muslims and Support for Diversity.

In prepration

  1. Afzali and Badis. A national longitudinal study of Muslim diversity and flourishing in New Zealand: Quantitative study protocol.
  2. Afzali et al. Enablers and barriers to data collection in Muslim community of New Zealand: A qualitative assessment of research assistant experiences.

For more information about this project, please contat me at usman.afzali@canterbury.ac.nz.

To participate in this study, please click this link or reach out to me for a paper questionnaire or further details.