A Review of Research/Think Tanks Related to Spirituality & Religion
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Transcript of A Review of Research/Think Tanks Related to Spirituality & Religion
A Review of Research/Think Tanks
Related to Spirituality & Religion
Daniel A. Zepp Boston College
www.DanielZepp.com @DannyZepp
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
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?
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
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
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
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
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/
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
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.
Lost in Transition?
Morality adrift
Captive to consumerism
Intoxication’s “Fake Feeling of Happiness”
The Shadow Side of Sexual Liberation
Civic and Political Disengagement
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
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?
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/
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
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
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?
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?
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
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?
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