The Scientific Study of Religion: Measuring Religiosity

Religion is a multi-dimensional concept consisting of behaviors, experiences, beliefs, and social/cultural traditions. A major problem faced by social scientists is to try to measure concepts that have no clear quantitative definitions. In other words, how can we quantify such things as “faith” or “devoutness”? A person who believes in God may not attend religious services – to what extent are they religious? What about a person who attends services without believing in God? This module will explore these questions and more using the ARDA’s Beliefs/QuickStats feature.