Guest Lecture, December 2nd, 2014, A Review of Research/Think TanksRelated to Spirituality & Religion. Religion & Higher Education (ELHE7504), Taught by Dr. Michael James, Boston College, Lynch School of Education, Department of Educational Leadership & Higher Education

1. A Review of
Research/Think Tanks
Related to Spirituality & Religion
Daniel A. Zepp
Boston College
www.DanielZepp.com
@DannyZepp

2. Class Outline
Review of Research/Think-Tanks
UCLA Spirituality Survey
Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA)
Social Science Research Council (SSRC)
National Study of Youth and Religion (NSYR)
Baylor Religion Survey
The Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life
Discussion & Analysis
Small Group Activity

3. Questions to Consider
1. How does this data challenge our assumptions?
2. Does this data reflect the experience of our students?
3. How might this data inform our practice?

4. UCLA Spirituality Study
UCLA Higher Education Research
Institute (HERI)
http://spirituality.ucla.edu/
Seven-year study examining the role
that college plays in facilitating the
development of students’ spiritual
qualities
Focus on higher education and
college student experience
Spirituality is associated with
enhanced college student outcomes in
academic performance, psychological
well-being, leadership development,
and satisfaction in college
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=aJswcR0Brwo

5. Distinguishing
Spiritual & Religious
Spiritual
Equanimity
Spiritual Quest
Ethic of Caring
Charitable Involvement
Ecumenical Worldview
Religious
Religious Commitment
Religious Engagement
Religious/Social
Conservatism
Religious Skepticism
Religious Struggle

6. Center for Applied Research in
the Apostolate (CARA)
Georgetown University
Focus on Catholicism and
the Catholic Church
Three major dimensions to
mission
To increase Church’s self-understanding
To serve the applied
research needs of Church
decision-makers
To advance scholarly
research on religion,
particularly Catholicism

7. Catholicism on Campus:
Stability & Change in Catholic Student
Faith by College Type
Focus
Beliefs and attitudes about social and political issues
Religious behaviors
Changes from freshman to juniors years
UCLA sources
Cooperative Institutional Research Program (CIRP) – Freshmen
College Student Beliefs & Values (CSBV) – Juniors
Catholic vs. other institution types
No significant secularizing trend among Catholic students
attending Catholic colleges
Response to Cardinal Newman Society criticism regarding the
negative impact of Catholic colleges and universities

8. Social Science Research Council
Focusing on informing
social reform, public
policy
The Immanent Frame:
Secularism, religion, &
public sphere
http://blogs.ssrc.org/tif/
http://blogs.ssrc.org/tif/
publications/

9. National Study of Youth &
Religion (NSYR)
Christian Smith and
colleagues
Center for Study of
Religion and Society at
Notre Dame
National longitudinal
mixed-methods study
Wave 1 (2003)
13-17 year olds
Wave 2 (2005)
16-21 year olds
Wave 3 (2007-2008)
18-24 year olds

10. Moralistic Therapeutic Deism
1. A god exists who created and ordered the world and
watches over human life on earth.
2. God wants people to be good, nice, and fair to each other, as
taught in the Bible and by most world religions.
3. The central goal of life is to be happy and to feel good about
oneself.
4. God does not need to be particularly involved in one's life
except when God is needed to resolve a problem.
5. Good people go to heaven when they die.

11. Lost in Transition?
Morality adrift
Captive to consumerism
Intoxication’s “Fake
Feeling of Happiness”
The Shadow Side of
Sexual Liberation
Civic and Political
Disengagement

12. Six Major Religious Types
1. Committed traditionalists (15%)
2. Selective adherents (30%)
3. Spiritually open (15%)
4. Religiously indifferent (25%)
5. Religiously disconnected (5%)
6. Irreligious (10%)
http://youtu.be/Fn_2AuOocRs?t=53m30s

13. Questions to Consider
1. How does this data challenge our assumptions?
2. Does this data reflect the experience of our students?
3. How might this data inform our practice?

14. Baylor Religion Survey
Baylor Institute for Studies of
Religion
Multi-year study of religious
values and behaviors, with a
specific focus on the consumption
of religious goods and services
Focus on religious commitment
and devoutness
“Losing My religion? No, Says
Baylor Religion Survey”
http://www.baylorisr.org/
programs-research/global-studies-
of-religion/surveys-of-religion/

15. The “Four Gods”
Authoritarian God – 31.4% of respondents
Very judgmental and engaged
Benevolent God – 25% of respondents
Not judgmental but engaged
Distant God – 23% of respondents
Completely removed
Critical God – 16% of respondents
Judgmental but not engaged

16. The Pew Forum on
Religion & Public Life
Pew Research Center
A nonpartisan fact tank that informs the public about the issues,
attitudes, and trends shaping America and the world
Religion & Public Life Project
Seeks to promote a deeper understanding of issues at the
intersection of religion and public affairs
Examines shifting religious composition, influence of religion on
politics, government and social restrictions on religion, and social
issues (e.g. abortion, gay marriage, stem cell research, church-state
controversies)
Sources
http://www.pewforum.org/about/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fp8LfFRiU8E

17. “Nones” on the Rise: One-in-Five
Adults Have No Religious Affiliation
(Funk & Smith, 2012, p. 9)

18. Religion Among the Millennials
(Pew Research Center, 2010, p. 1)

19. Questions to Consider
1. How does this data challenge our assumptions?
2. Does this data reflect the experience of our students?
3. How might this data inform our practice?

20. Discussion & Analysis
What narratives about spirituality and religion do you hear?
How do these narratives relate to spirituality, religion, and the
college student experience?
What is missing from the conversation?
How could research and analysis of spirituality, religion, and
the college student experience be improved?

21. College Student Experience?
Limited research focusing on spirituality, religion, and the college
student experience
UCLA Spirituality Study, CIRP (freshmen), CSBV (juniors)
CARA study of Catholic student experience based on CIRP and CSBV data
Limited theological base, distinguishes spiritual and religious
Others focus on:
Young/emerging adults & Millennial generation
NSYR
Religious commitment and devoutness
Baylor Religion Survey
Religion & society
SSRC
American religious landscape
Pew Forum

22. Spiritual & Religion = Values,
Attitudes, and Behaviors?
Majority of research focuses on values, attitudes, and
behaviors
Does this adequately capture spirituality, religion, and the
college student experience?
Does this data reflect the experience of our students?
How could research on spirituality and religion be improved?

23. Small Group Activity
1. Two colleges/universities in the Boston area
2. Identify campus initiatives related to spirituality and religion
Use Promising Practices (Lindholm et al., 2011) as your guide
3. Programmatic analysis
4. Institutional analysis
5. Connect to readings and today’s lecture
6. Provide recommendations for future growth