Religious vilification laws : do they reflect the Maltese public's views?

Abstract

This dissertation is subdivided into six chapters. The first chapter is a general introduction to this research which contains some definitions of key concepts, an explanation of the title, aim of the study, postulation of hypotheses and the motivation to carry out the study. Chapter two is the literature review which contains a historical background on blasphemy laws and the Maltese State. Further more it investigates various theoretical approaches and other research that helps expound the hypotheses of this research. Chapter four revolves around the methodology employed to carry out the research. It contains definitions of the research tool used and an explanation of why and how this was applied. Chapters four and five contain the analysis of data gathered through the research methodology and the interpretation of this data, respectively. The interpretation of the data is presented in the form of a discussion extrapolating the study's results with relation to the hypotheses of the study. The last chapter is the conclusion, containing the final thoughts and researcher's recommendations. This is followed by a thorough bibliography of the texts reviewed and all the background reading needed to delve into the subject of religious vilification laws.