Religion_1MR – Measuring Religious Preference

Note to the Instructor: This is the first in a series of four exercises that focus on the measurement of religious preference, religiosity, religious beliefs, and religious behavior. In these exercises we're going to analyze data from the Pew 2014 Religious Landscape Survey conducted by the Pew Research Center. We're going to use SPSS to analyze the data. A weight variable is automatically applied to the data set, so it better represents the population from which the sample was selected. You have permission to use this exercise and to revise it to fit your needs. Please send a copy of any revision to the author so I can see how people are using the exercises. Please contact the author for additional information.

Goal of Exercise

The goal of this exercise is to provide an introduction to measurement which is an integral part of any research design. In this exercise we're going to focus on measuring religious preference. In the next exercise (Religion_2MR) we'll look at measuring religiosity which refers to how religious people are.

Part I—Concepts

We use concepts all the time. We all know what a book is. But when we use the word “book” we may not be talking about a particular book we’re reading. We could be talking about books in general. In other words, we’re talking about the concept to which we have given the name “book.” There are many different types of books – paperback, hardback, small, large, short, long, and so on. But they all have one thing in common – they all belong to the category “book.”

Let's look at some other examples. Religious preference refers to the religion with which people identify. Some people say they are Lutheran; others say they are Roman Catholic; still others say they are Muslim; and others say they have no religious preference. Religiosity is another concept which refers to the degree of attachment that individuals have to their religious preference. It’s different than religious preference. Religiosity and religious preference are both concepts.

In other words, a concept is an abstract idea. There are the abstract ideas of book, religiosity, religious preference, and many others. Since concepts are abstract ideas and not directly observable, we must select measures or indicants of these concepts. We call this process measurement.

Part II – The Data Set We'll be Using

The Pew Research Center has conducted a number of surveys that deal with religion. Two of these surveys are the Religious Landscape Surveys conducted in 2007 and then repeated in 2014. They were very large telephone surveys of about 35,000 adults in the United States. For more information about the surveys, go to their website.

We'll be using a subset of the 2014 survey in this exercise which I have named Pew_2014_Religious_Landscape_ Survey_subset_for_classes.sav. For the purposes of these exercises I selected a subset of variables from the complete data set. I recoded some of the variables, created a few new variables, and renamed the variables to make them easier for students to use. There is a weight variable which should always be used so that the sample will better represent the population from which the sample was selected. To open the data set in SPSS, just double click on the file name.[1] Your instructor will tell you where the file is located.

Part III – Measuring Religious Preference

Religious preference refers to the religion with which respondents identify. The Pew survey asked "What is your present religion, if any? Are you Protestant, Roman Catholic, Mormon, Orthodox such as Greek or Russian Orthodox, Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu, atheist, agnostic, something else, or nothing in particular?"

Now that you have opened the data set, run a frequency distribution for the variable R1 which is the name of the variable. The variable name starts with the letter R which tells you that this variable describes religious preference. There are seven variables in this category named R1 to R7. We're going to look at most of them in this exercise. Some of you have used SPSS, the statistical package we're using, and know how to get a frequency distribution. Others of you are new to SPSS. There is a tutorial that you can use to learn how to get a frequency distribution. The tutorial is freely available on the Social Science Research and Instructional Center's website. Chapter 1 of the tutorial gives you a basic overview of SPSS and frequency distributions are covered in Chapter 4.

It's very easy to get frequency distributions. Once you have opened the data set in SPSS, look on the menu bar at the top and click on "Analyze." This will open a drop-down menu. Click on "Descriptive Statistics" and then on "Frequencies." You screen should look like Figure 1.

Title: Figure 1 - Description: This is the SPSS dialog box for Frequencies.

Figure 1

 

Notice that the list of all the variables is in the pane on the left. I scrolled down to the variables that start with R (i.e., R1 through R7). Select R1 by clicking on it and then click on the arrow pointing to the right. This will move R1 into the "Variable(s)" box. Your screen should look like Figure 2.

Title: Figure 2 - Description: This is the SPSS dialog box for Frequencies with R1 selected.

Figure 2

 

Now all you have to do is to click on "OK" to get your frequency distribution. Your screen should look like Figure 3. Note that I have only displayed the top part of the distribution because it's a very large table.[2]

Title: Figure 3 - Description: This is the SPSS output displaying the frequency distribution for R1.

Figure 3

 

Take a few minutes to familiarize yourself with the information in the table.

  • The first column is the value and the value label. The value "1" refers to all people who answered Protestant.
  • The second column is the number of respondents who said they were Protestants (15,431).
  • The third column converts the frequencies to percents. Notice that there are two types of missing information – responses that were uninterpretable and those who said they didn't know or refused to answer. The percent column converts the frequency to a percent by dividing the frequency (15,431) by the total number of cases including those with missing values (35,071). Carry out the computation for yourself and convince yourself that it is 44.0%.
  • The fourth column converts the frequencies to valid percents by dividing the frequency (15,431) by the number of cases with valid information (34,846). In other words, it excludes the cases with missing information (225) from the denominator when computing the percent. Carry out the computation for yourself and convince yourself that it is 44.3%. This is called the valid percent. The more missing information there is in the distribution, the greater could be the difference between the percent and the valid percent. Normally we want to use the valid percents when describing the frequency distribution.
  • The fifth column is the cumulative percent. Recall that the first twelve categories in the distribution were listed in Figure 3. The cumulative percent for this twelfth category is 94.4%. In other words, 94.4% of the cases with valid information selected one of the categories included in the first twelve categories. You can see where this comes from if you add up the valid percents for the first twelve categories.

Now it's your turn. The second category in the distribution is Roman Catholic.

  • What is the value for this category?
  • How many respondents said they were Roman Catholic?
  • What is the percent for this category? What does this mean?
  • What is the valid percent for this category? What does this mean?
  • Why aren't the percent and valid percents the same?
  • What is the cumulative percent for this category? What does this mean?

Part IV – Measuring Religious Preference for Protestants

One problem with the first question is that over 15,000 respondents said they were Protestant. We know there are many different types of Protestants so we might want to break Protestants down more finely. To do this the Pew survey asked another question – "As far as your present religion, what denomination or church, if any, do you identify with most closely? Just stop me when I get to the right one. Are you Baptist, Methodist, Lutheran, Presbyterian, Pentecostal, Episcopalian or Anglican, Church of Christ or Disciples of Christ, Congregational or United Church of Christ, Holiness, Reformed, Church of God, nondenominational or independent church, something else, or none in particular?" Run a frequency distribution for R2 which is the name of this variable.

This question was only asked of those who said they were Protestant in R1. Notice that the number of cases with valid information was 15,403 and that there were 28 respondents who said they didn't know or refused to answer. If you add these two numbers together, you get 15,431 which is the number who said Protestant in R1. Those who didn't say they were Protestant in the previous question are included in the category that is labeled "system missing."

The large number of categories in R2 makes it difficult to interpret. R6 is an attempt to reduce the number of categories making it easier to interpret. Run a frequency distribution for R6. Notice that this variable combines many of the volunteered responses for R2 into two other categories – other Protestant religions and responses that were so nonspecific that they were impossible to recode. Respondents who were not Protestants were assigned the value "0."

Now it's your turn. Write a paragraph describing what the frequency distribution for R6 tells you about religion in the U.S. Be sure to answer the following questions. Use the valid percents.

  • What percent of adults are Protestant? Not Protestant?
  • What is the largest Protestant denomination? What percent fall in that category?
  • What is the second largest Protestant denomination? What percent fall in that category?
  • Which Protestant denominations have less than 1% of all Protestants?

Part V – Another Way to Measure Religious Preference

Run a frequency distribution for R4. Notice that this time Protestants are broken down by both denomination (e.g., Lutheran, Presbyterians, Methodist) and by religious tradition. Religious tradition is divided into three categories.

  • Evangelical Protestant tradition
  • Mainline Protestant tradition
  • Historically Black Protestant tradition

To find out what the Pew Center means by these traditions, read the following Pew reports:

  • Chapter 1 of the full report for the 2014 Religious Landscape Survey on "The Changing Religious Composition of the U.S. Population" and
  • Appendix B to this report on "Classification of Protestant Denominations."

For more information on the difference between the evangelical and the mainline Protestant traditions, read the article by John Green in the PBS Frontline article on "Evangelicals v. Mainline Protestants." For a history of the black church, read Marilyn Mellowes' article on "The Black Church."

Now it's your turn again. Write a paragraph explaining in your own words what is meant by these three religious traditions – the Evangelical Protestant tradition, the Mainline Protestant tradition, and the Historically Black Protestant tradition.

The problem with R4 is that there are so many categories that it's hard to interpret. Run a frequency distribution for R5 which breaks Protestants down into these three religious traditions but does not include denomination. Notice that it also includes non-Protestant religions. Write another paragraph describing religion in the U.S. using R5. Be sure to consider the following questions. Use the valid percents.

  • What are the five largest religious groups in R5? Note that this table includes the religiously unaffiliated as a group. What are the percents for each of these groups?
  • What percent of adults are Christian? Non-Christian? For this question, be sure to also include Orthodox Christians, Jehovah's Witness, Mormon, and Other Christian as Christian when you compute the percent of adults who are Christian.
  • Which non-Christian group is the largest? What is the percent for that group?

Part VI – Other Dimensions of Religious Preference

There are two other dimensions of religious preference considered in the Pew Survey. Go back and review the Green article in Part 5. The third belief that Green lists defining Evangelical Christians is the belief that "individuals must accept salvation for themselves…. Sometimes that's referred to as a born-again experience." The Pew Survey asked respondents " would you describe yourself as a "born-again" or evangelical Christian, or not?" The name of this variable is R3. Note that this question was not asked of respondents who self-identified as a non-Christian. This would include the following categories – Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu, other world religions, other faiths, and unaffiliated.

Run a frequency distribution for R3. Write a paragraph describing what this distribution tells you about Evangelical Christians (or born-again Christians) in the U.S. Be sure to consider what percent of Christians consider themselves born-again? Not born-again?

Just because a person self-identifies with a particular religious group does not mean that they are a member of a church or house of worship. The Pew survey asked respondents "are you personally a member of a local (synagogue; mosque; temple) or other house of worship, or not?" The name of this variable is R7. Run a frequency distribution for R7. Compare the percent who said they belong to a church or house of worship with the percent that identified with some (any) religion. Be sure to cite the valid percents in your answer. What does this tell you about religion in the U.S.?

Part VII – Conclusion

Clearly there are different ways to measure religious preference. Typically, there isn't just one way to measure something. When you read social science research reports be sure to pay attention to the way things are measured.

 

 

[1] This assumes that the proper associations have been set up on your computer so the computer knows that .sav files are SPSS data files

[2] SPSS allows you to change the way your output is displayed. You can change these preferences by clicking on "Edit" in the menu bar at the top of the screen and then clicking on "Options" and finally on the "Output" tab. Under "Variables in item labels shown as" select "Names and Labels" and then under "Variable values in item labels shown as" select "Values and Labels." Then click on "OK." You can also try out other options.