Suchergebnisse

SOCIOPOLITICAL IDENTITY IS SEEN BY MANY AS THE KEY TO UNDERSTANDING THE CONFLICT IN NORTHERN IRELAND AND FOR THIS REASON HAS BEEN THE SUBJECT OF SEVERAL MAJOR SURVEYS. HOWEVER, THESE SURVEYS CAN BE CRITICIZED BECAUSE THEY HAVE NOT EMPLOYED TECHNIQUES THAT PROPERLY ALLOW FOR COMPARISONS BETWEEN THE VARIOUS POSSIBLE IDENTITIES. THE PRESENT STUDY OVERCAME THIS CRITICISM BY MAKING USE OF A PAIRED-COMPARISON TECHNIQUE WHICH ALLOWED THE FOUR IDENTITIES--BRITISH, IRISH, ULSTER, AND NORTHERN IRISH--TO BE PRESENTED TO ALL RESPONDENTS. THE RESULTS SUGGESTED THAT AS EXPECTED THERE WAS POLARIZATION ACROSS ALL IDENTITIES BETWEEN CATHOLICS AND PROTESTANTS AND FURTHER THAT WITHIN THESE TWO GROUPS THE RANK ORDER OF THE VARIOUS IDENTITIES ALSO DIFFERED. IN PARTICULAR, THE TERM "NORTHERN IRISH" WAS SEEN AS CLOSELY RELATED TO THE TERM "IRISH" BY CATHOLICS BUT AS VIRTUALLY SYNONYMOUS WITH THE TERM "BRITISH" BY PROTESTANTS.