Page 23 - A Study of Traditional Chinese Religions in Malaysia: The Decline and the Path Towards Revitalization

examines their conviction towards TCR and the factors behind them. Data has been collected
by conducting a survey on Malaysian Chinese representing different age groups, gender and

locations.

Section 2

This research has also conducted a survey on Malaysian Chinese who have converted out
of TCR. The respondents of this survey consist of Malaysian Chinese who have left TCR and
those who have become atheists. Their views on their past and current religion have been

investigated. The survey also includes questions that aim to gauge their perceptions towards
conversion and the factors that have caused them to convert. Besides the above, the survey
also seeks to elucidate the perceptions of Malaysian Chinese towards their current religion

and the implications of their conversion on their life.

Section 3

Besides examining the factors that have caused Malaysian Chinese to either remain in or
leave TCR, this research aims to find out more about the reasons why our selected
respondents converted back to TCR, in terms of their motivation or reasons for embracing

TCR. Since the data will not be straight forward and requires probing, in-depth interviews
have been conducted to achieve our research objectives.

Section 4

As mentioned in the research objective, this research also aims to find out about the attitudes
of TCR organizations such as temples and associations on the conversion issue. To achieve

this objective, this research gathered data on how the leaders of these organizations view
the current state of the TCR organization that they are leading and their views on any efforts
to strengthen TCR. Data collection was made through focus group discussions with the

temples and TCR association committees.

Overall, the data collection for this research has been quite challenging. More details

concerning the data will be elaborated in the following chapters. The researchers started to
collect data in March 2022 and had successfully completed this task in February 2023. It took

the researchers almost one year to complete the data collection. One of the greatest
challenges faced was finding willing respondents and interviewees. Many refused to be
interviewed, probably due to the sensitivities involved. The data collection was also

conducted at the time when Covid-19 was still a threat.

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