Scope and countries
Two research flagships: desk research across 48 countries, and field research in ten of them.
48 countries
Desk research reviewing existing data sources (academic research, official reports, national censuses), feeding country factsheets and the GMD Atlas.
10 countries
Field research in capital cities and the most Muslim-populous cities, collecting primary data through surveys and in-depth interviews.
The ten fieldwork countries
Argentina, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, South Africa, Spain, the United Kingdom and the United States.
How they were selected
Magnitude and visibility. The size and significance of the Muslim population was weighed together with the diversity of the community (a plurality of ethnic, cultural and religious backgrounds) and with the political and socio-economic weight of the host country. All fieldwork countries are home to very large Muslim communities; with the exception of Japan, each has a Muslim population above one hundred thousand.
Analytical interest. Several countries were retained because they raise a distinct question. Argentina is notable for a gradual decline in numbers, and the case study there examines the causes of that erosion and whether it holds elsewhere in Latin America.
What the research asks
Fieldwork is organised around a set of recurring themes: the country context in which Muslim communities live; the profile of those communities; their relations with one another and with non-Muslim communities; their perspectives on the concept of a Muslim diaspora; how they experience country-specific issues; and their prospects for the future.
A distinct strand examines relations with countries of origin: the sense of belonging Muslim migrants retain, how often they visit, how they maintain family ties, whether a sense of cultural differentiation develops, whether they follow and contribute to developments back home, and what shapes their interest, or lack of interest, in returning.