This paper discusses some of the general problems of differentiating between the effects of state borders and the effects of related ethnonational identity differences, and particularly between the combined effects of ethnicity and borders and the effects of all sorts of other influences on behaviour and attitudes in border communities, including class, gender, age and geographical circumstance. It examines how borders and ethnicity interact with other such influences. Reflecting on the pitfalls in rushing to judgement on territorial and ethnic factors, and on perceived shortcomings in Irish border research, it attempts to avoid these various problems in elaborating a research design for a questionnaire survey of border households in Northern Ireland and the Republic. It devises a basic questionnaire with adaptations for different sides and sections of the border, and a random sampling framework which is stratified by distance from the border, with equal numbers on either side, and equal numbers of Catholics and Protestants—traditional markers of Irish and British national identity, though this too is questioned. Highlighting factors such as age, gender and class, it points to asymmetries across the territorial and religious divides which may significantly influence the behaviour and attitudes of the different groups.

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