Families, Freedom, and Faith

About Our Research

As societal trends diverge from traditional values, religious people are experiencing increased animosity and intolerance towards their faith. Religious leaders have expressed that these trends are making it increasingly difficult for people to live according to their own conscience and beliefs. As a team of researchers at Brigham Young University, we have noticed these trends and want to better understand how they affect religious families. To this end we are conducting an academic study on religious freedoms, the growing intolerance towards religion, and how this impacts families.

To better understand the societal pressures religious leaders and families are facing and how they cope with these pressures, we would like to interview religious leaders and families of all ages from various denominations for 60 – 90 minutes. We plan to travel to Ireland and the UK to interview 65 religious leaders and 65 families during a two-week period from June 1 – June 15, 2016. Religious leaders will be compensated €40/£30 for their time and families will be compensated €65/£50. All names will be kept anonymous when the results are published in academic journals.

Although we come from various religious backgrounds with differing opinions, we all have one thing in common—the desire to worship and raise our families according to our beliefs without the fear of prejudice or discrimination. By participating in this study, you will unite with other faithful individuals and families in letting your voice be heard to protect your freedoms and beliefs.

If you were referred to this website by one of our researchers or a religious leader, we hope that you would be willing to interview with a member of our team. We feel that this research is especially timely and pertinent today with the increase of secular social agendas which foster religious intolerance. Your participation can be very influential in creating a more positive view of the impact of religion on families and society. We invite you to email us now at ukfamiliesresearch@byu.edu with any questions you may have or to set up a tentative appointment. At the time of the interview, you will be given compensation for your time or an equivalent donation to your church. Please continue reading for more background on us and this project.

Brigham Young University (BYU) has over 30,000 students and is a top-tier academic university in the western United States. Over ten years ago, some of our colleagues here at BYU, began researching religious families in the United States and have posted their research on their American Families of Faith website where you can also view their academic publications. They have interviewed numerous Christian denominations, Muslims, and Jews. As leading researchers in this area, their excellent work has helped scholars better understand how religion benefits and enhances family life.

As we interview families and religious leaders in Ireland and the United Kingdom, we plan to build upon the existing research by taking a more global perspective and by incorporating the issues of religious freedom and tolerance. We expect that our findings will positively influence perceptions of religion within the international academic community and promote increased tolerance for religion.

We are including a list of sample questions to help you better understand our intentions. As you will notice, questions are intended to help us better understand the challenges religious people face due to diminishing religious freedoms, how families cope with pressures to conform to social agendas contrary to their religious beliefs, as well as the many benefits of faith on family relationships. Also included below is a short introduction to our research team.If you are interested in participating or have any questions, please email us at ukfamiliesresearch@byu.edu.

Sample Interview Questions

Sample Questions for Religious Leader:

  1. 1. What social trends (positive or negative) do you see affecting families?
  2. 2. As a religious leader, have you experienced animosity or intolerance related to doctrines that differ from societal trends?
  3. 3. What do you do as a religious leader to support your congregation as they encounter societal trends that are in conflict with your religious beliefs or practices?
  4. 4. In what ways have you noticed negative attitudes towards religion in the media and society?
  5. 5. What concerns relative to attacks on religious freedom do you have regarding members of your congregation?
  6. 6. What is the source or reason of animosity/intolerance/negativity towards religion in general?

Sample Questions for Families:

  1. 1. What are parents doing to help their families keep the faith given the secular culture in which they live?
  2. 2. What societal trends have had an impact on how they raise their children or live their lives?
  3. 3. How do parents and children nurture spiritual beliefs and practices when much of the world seems to be growing oppositional to religion?
  4. 4. What societal pressures are parents and children facing in their everyday life that affects the way family members live their religion?
  5. 5. What are the specific things that parents do to pass values and beliefs from one generation to the next?
  6. 6. How do you find balance between professional responsibilities and family/religious responsibilities?

Meet Our Research Team

Quinn Galbraith

Family Life and Sociology Librarian, BYU

I am the Family Life and Sociology Research Librarian at Brigham Young University. My wife, Heidi, and I have been happily married for 22 years and have 9 children together. I know the importance that religion and God play in helping all of us form strong family relationships.

I have a master’s degree in Library and Information Science and a master’s degree in Social Science. My research interest includes world religions and the positive influence they have on society and families. After interviewing Christian, Muslim, and Jewish families in the United Kingdom in June 2016, we plan to publish the results in academic peer-reviewed journals. Since little is written in scholarly journals on this topic, my team and I hope to expand this area of research in showing the positive influence religion has on society and families. If you are invited to participate in our study I hope you will agree. Your participation will be very helpful as we study how religion influences families and society.

Erika Parsons

Research Assistant, BYU

Erika Parsons is from San Antonio, Texas. She is a junior in Middle Eastern Studies and Arabic. She is minoring in communications and hopes to pursue a master’s degree in Journalism. Erika loves traveling and learning languages. In addition to studying Arabic, she is also fluent in Spanish and has traveled around South America and lived in Chile. Some of her other hobbies include singing, hiking, and spending time with her dogs. She joined this project to gain experience and a greater understanding of the positive effects of religion.

Kevin Galbraith

Professor in Family Studies, BYU–Idaho

Kevin Galbraith is a professor in the marriage and family studies program at Brigham Young University–Idaho. He has degrees in psychology, counseling, and a doctorate in family studies. His research interests lie in understanding the role of religion in strengthening families, including how parents prepare children to be leaders within their own families. Dr. Galbraith teaches a variety of classes in parenting, marriage, family relations, and religion and family life. He has been happily married to his wife, Kristin, for 27 years and is the father of nine children and one granddaughter. His favorite thing to do is to spend time with his wife and children in the outdoors—hiking, fishing, camping, and gardening.

Heather Kelley

Research Assistant, BYU

Heather is a Family Studies major at BYU. She will finish her undergraduate degree in August 2016. She plans to start a master’s program in Marriage and Family Therapy immediately after graduation. She grew up in Utah but has spent many summers in Texas and lived in Finland for a year and a half. She recently got married in December 2015. Religion has had a huge impact on both her and her husband’s lives, and is one of the things that brought them together. She is both personally and academically interested in learning how religion impacts families’ relationships with each other and their daily interactions.

Amelia Hillebrant

Research Assistant, BYU

Amelia Hillebrant is from Washington. She is a junior studying Illustration and English. Amelia enjoys singing, reading and writing. She has a passion for art and storytelling, and dreams of working as a concept artist for a major movie studio making children's movies. She loves her family and her faith, and wants to gain a stronger understanding of how the faith of others strengthens their familial relationships.​

If you are interested in participating or have any questions, please email us at ukfamiliesresearch@byu.edu.