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Measuring the rate of religious non-affiliation is a difficult task in China, one of the least religious countries in the world, and elsewhere. This study evaluates the trend of religious non-affiliation in China using 22 surveys spanning three decades. We found that two surveys asking beliefs in a mix of gods and religions yielded dramatically lower estimates of non-affiliation compared to the others that measured affiliation explicitly. Among the latter, using a filter question (a yes/no question for religious affiliation) increased the reports of non-affiliation but allowing multiple choices and putting "no religion" toward the end of the lists of response options moderately decreased the reports of non-affiliation. After accounting for question design and demographic differences across the surveys, the decline in religious non-affiliation is reduced and becomes not significant during more recent years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While mail surveys are common in many developed countries, it is still a new method in other, often less-developed countries. This study explores the feasibility of mail surveys in urban China. We conducted an experiment manipulating delivery method (regular mail vs. courier delivery service) and incentive payment (prepaid vs. no incentive) using an area-probability sample of 2,400 households in Shanghai. Concerns about the effectiveness of prepaid incentives in China arise given the prevalence of scams. Courier delivery is generally faster and more reliable than regular mail, but there was uncertainty whether courier could outperform regular delivery when recipients’ name and contact information are unavailable. Findings show that mail surveys delivered using regular postal service with a prepaid incentive achieved the most cost-effective return per completed interview in Shanghai. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]