Religion in census, the 2011 Albania experience and its flaws
Religion in census, the 2011 Albania experience and its flaws

Summary/Abstract: The sensitive topic of religion in the Albanian 2011 census and the coming one is thefocus of this study. The country majority is composed of ethnic Albanians, sharing thesame nationality; blood, language, culture, territory while religion differs. It was founda flaw in categorization under the category ‘Bektashi’, one of the Albanian traditionaldivisions historically a sub-category of ‘Islam’. Placing it as a separate category,while the main body category ‘Islam’ is the other option creates fogginess for theinquired person. Checking on ‘Islam’ excludes s/he from the possibility to choose‘Bektashi’ and vice versa. Data retrieved from the official INSTAT Albania online webatlas and reorganized second study objectives. Maps show a shift from traditionalreligious categories, Muslim, Catholic, Orthodox and Bektashi with clear geographicalconnotations. Traditional religious nominations range from the lowest loss of 2.9% to56.5%. With a range 53.6%, and mean and standard deviation 23.6±13.3%, changeis statistically significant p<0.001. The whole country records a fidelity to traditionalcategories of 75.6%. The quest of separation from the main body of a religiousaffiliation is a special case of separation because the sub-division always pretends tosave the original message, not bringing a novelty. The case of the Albanian religiouscensus categories superposition constitutes a technical error that needs revision.

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