New Measurement Strategies for Religion: Spirituality and Progressive Religiosity

New Measurement Strategies for Religion
Spirituality and Progressive Religiosity
American Association of Public Opinion Research
May 13-16, 2010

New Strategies for Measuring Religion
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Part I: Measuring Spirituality
Part II: Measuring Progressive Religiousity

Data Sources
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National Opinion Research Center, University of Chicago:
General Social Survey (2008)
Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life:
Religious Landscape Survey (2007)
Public Religion Research Institute:
Midwest Religion Survey (2009)

Method #1: Sorting Out “Spiritual” vs. “Religious” via Self-Identification
Method #1: Self-Identification (GSS):
To what extent do you consider yourself a spiritual person…
Very spiritual
Moderately spiritual
Slightly spiritual or
Not spiritual at all
To what extent do you consider yourself a religious person…
Very religious
Moderately religious
Slightly religious or
Not religious at all
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Positive Correlation between “Spiritual” and “Religious”
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Source: General Social Survey, 2008
Significantly Correlated: .577 (P < .001)

Religiosity, Spirituality and Politics
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Response Categories
1=Not at all
2=Slightly
3=Moderately
4=Very
Spirituality-Ideology Correlation: .139 (P < .001)
Religiosity-Ideology Correlation: .269 (P < .001)

Combined Self-Identification Measures
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Method #2: Sorting out “Spiritual” vs. “Religious” via Self-Description
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Two Methods, Divergent Results
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Method #3: A Spirituality Factor
Presentation Title
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Spirituality as Sensibility and Practice
Analysis from the Pew Forum’s Religious Landscape Survey

Practice, Belief, and Spirituality:A Factor Analysis
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Three Dimensions of Religion
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Correlations between Practices, Beliefs, and Spirituality
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Source: Pew Forum, Religious Landscape Survey, 2007

Spirituality by Religious Affiliation
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Source: Pew Forum, Religious Landscape Survey, 2007

Religious Beliefs, Practices and Spirituality by Political Ideology
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Source: Religious Landscape Survey, 2007

Next Steps: Spirituality, Religion & Politics
What we’ve learned:
Spirituality seems to be an independent realm of religiosity with at least two components:
Experiences such as a sense of awe and peacefulness
The practice of meditation as distinct from prayer
Unlike religious practice and belief, spirituality is not strongly associated with political ideology.
Research to be done:
Is there something about spirituality, such as a sense of connectedness and aversion to violence, that might correlate to stances on specific issues?
For example, would higher spirituality correlate with support for environmentalism, support for social welfare programs, or multilateral diplomatic solutions in foreign policy?
Is there something that can be understood as a uniquely spiritual experience?
How do respondents distinguish between religious and spiritual experiences?
What are other measurable spiritual practices that would be distinct from religious practices?
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Part II: Measuring Progressive Religiosity
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Challenges and Theories

Getting Beyond the Conservative Religion Bias
Common Measures of religious conservatism/traditionalism:
Practices:
Frequency of attendance
Frequency of prayer
Beliefs:
Belief in biblical literalism
Belief in God
Salience of religion
The inverse of conservative religiosity on these axes is non-religiosity, NOT progressive religiosity.
What’s needed: an independent measure of progressive religiosity.
An approach: Shifting from measures of belief and practice to measures of religious ethics.
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Theorizing a Different Dimension: Structuralist & Individualist Orientations
Qualitative research among nearly 100 progressive religious leaders points to the promise of distinguishing between a structuralist-individualist orientation as a means of differentiating between conservative and progressive religious orientations.
Key point: not just individual charity but social justice.
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“Not simply a matter of dealing with particular symptoms by extending kindness to a person in trouble, but repairing the world in order to establish conditions of justice…. Not simply dealing with people who are poor, but helping them avoid a situation in which poverty for them becomes inevitable.”
-Rabbi Eric Yoffie, Union for Reform Judaism

Measuring Approaches to Religious Ethics
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Source: Public Religion Research Institute, Midwest Religion Survey, 2009.

Exploratory Factor Analysis: Two Factors
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Correlations of Structuralist and Individualist Orientations
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Structuralist-Individualist Orientation by Religious affiliation
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Presentation Title

Structuralist and Individualist Factors by Party Identification
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Next Steps: Measuring Progressive Religiosity
What we’ve learned:
Progressive religiosity is not the inverse of conservative religiosity.
Measuring approaches to religious ethics, between structuralist and individualist orientations, is a promising way forward for differentiating between progressive and conservative religiosity.
Research to be done:
Our analysis revealed two, rather than one, dimensions to the structuralist-individualist orientation to religious ethics. What’s going on there?
Do these orientations look significantly different outside the Midwest or at the national level?
Are there better measures of structuralist-individualist orientations?
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