Statistics Estonia: Lutheran Church's Criticism Not Justified
The project manager for the last census, Diana Beltadze, has commented on doubts voiced by a Lutheran church official regarding the census results on religion.
As reported earlier today, Urmas Viilma, chancellor of the Estonian Evangelical Lutheran Church, said this particular part of the 2011 census was manipulated to achieve a desired result. Viilma said the survey results provided ambiguous percentages and that the question was optional, with 14 percent preferring not to respond. According to him, up to 25 percent of the Estonian population is unaccounted for.
Beltadze countered that the number of over-15 inhabitants in Estonia is a definite and known quantity (1,094,564) and the 14 percent who did not respond would amount to a total of 157,216 people. Drawing conclusions other than reluctance to reply to the question is impossible, Beltadze said.
An unknown status was recorded for 23,888 people and presumably these are people for whom other family members filled in the form, she added.
“Religion-related questions were added to the 2011 census after a request by the clergy and the format of the questions and replies was coordinated with Ministry of the Interior experts,” said Beltadze.
“Since religion is a sensitive and delicate topic, answering this question should not be mandatory. In addition it is presumed the respondent understands the content of the question, and therefore the age minimum for the question is 15 years,” she added.