U.S. Congregational Life Survey, Wave 2, 2008-2009, Church of the Nazarene Attender Survey

DOI

10.17605/OSF.IO/TNBRG

Citation

Woolever, C., Bruce, D., Kopacz, J., Smith-Williams, I., & Houseal, R. (2020, December 10). U.S. Congregational Life Survey, Wave 2, 2008-2009, Church of the Nazarene Attender Survey.

Summary

More than 500,000 worshipers in more than 5,000 congregations across America participated in the U.S. Congregational Life Survey (Wave 1 and Wave 2) - making it the largest survey of worshipers in America ever conducted. Three types of surveys were completed in each participating congregation: (a) an attender survey completed by all worshipers age 15 and older who attended worship services during the weekend the survey was given; (b) a congregational profile describing the congregation's facilities, staff, programs and worship services completed by one person in the congregation; and (c) a leader survey completed by the pastor, priest, minister, rabbi or other principal leader. Together the information collected provides a unique three-dimensional look at religious life in America. (From Appendix 1, U.S. Congregational Life Survey Methodology: A Field Guide to U.S. Congregations, Second Edition.)

This data file contains data for an oversample of Church of the Nazarene worship attenders participating in Wave 2 of the U.S. Congregational Life Survey. (Wave 2 Church of the Nazarene Congregational Profile data, and Church of the Nazarene Leader data will be provided in separate data files.)

The ARDA has added five additional variables to the original data set to enhance the users' experience on our site.

Data File

Cases: 1662
Variables: 139
Weight Variable: None

Data Collection

Fall 2008 - Spring 2009

Original Survey (Instrument)

USCLS Attender Survey, Wave 2

Funded By

The Lilly Endowment, Inc.
Louisville Institute
Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
Church of the Nazarene

Collection Procedures

Self-administered surveys

Sampling Procedures

In Wave 1 and Wave 2, other denominations also were invited and encouraged to draw a random sample of their congregations. Denominational samples were large enough so that the results are representative of worshipers and congregations in each denomination. This allows denominations to compare their "typical" congregation and worshiper to congregations and worshipers in other denominations.

This oversample (Wave 2) was drawn from a random sample of all Church of the Nazarene congregations in the United States. Of the 54 congregations that agreed to participate, 35 congregations returned 1,662 completed worshiper surveys.

In Nazarene churches, two versions of the attender survey were used: Standard (for all non-Catholic congregations) in English (Form A) and Standard in Spanish (Form A-S).
In Wave 2, every Nazarene congregation received the Standard version (A or B) for approximately 85 percent of the attender forms. The remaining 15 percent of forms were distributed among nine other versions-each with the same first three pages as the Standard version (Form A), but with a different back page. These different forms were topical in nature (e.g., giving, spirituality and health, sharing faith). So, for example, in a congregation with 100 people, 85 Form A surveys were distributed, and one or more of each of nine other versions of the survey were distributed. Every congregation did not necessarily get every one of the nine variations-for example, congregations with fewer than 50 total forms would not have received all nine different variations. So some small congregations might have gotten forms D through G for their 15 percent and another congregation might have gotten forms H through M and so on. The Pis determined the number of each of these nine versions to send to each congregation so that the overall number of responses for each version would be balanced. This procedure ensured that the Pis received enough completed forms of each of the nine different versions to be able to treat them as a random sample of worshipers. In addition, each oversample used a similar procedure to distribute a variety of back page forms to worshipers in that sample.

The Church of the Nazarene Attender data can be linked to the Church of the Nazarene Congregational Profile data and the Church of the Nazarene Leader data by the CONGREGA variable.

Principal Investigators

Cynthia Woolever, Research Services, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), co-principal investigator

Deborah Bruce, Associate Research Manager, Research Services, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), co-principal investigator

Joelle Kopacz, Research Assistant, Research Services, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)

Ida Smith-Williams, Associate for Information, Research Services, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)

Rich Houseal, Research Services Manager, Church of the Nazarene Global Ministry Center

Related Publications

A Field Guide to U.S. Congregations: Who's Going Where and Why. Second Edition. 2010. Cynthia Woolever and Deborah Bruce, Westminster John Knox Press.

A Field Guide to U.S. Congregations: Who's Going Where and Why. 2002. Cynthia Woolever and Deborah Bruce, Westminster John Knox Press.

Beyond the Ordinary: 10 Strengths of U.S. Congregations. 2004. Cynthia Woolever and Deborah Bruce, Westminster John Knox Press.

Places of Promise: Finding Strength in Your Congregation's Location. 2008. Cynthia Woolever and Deborah Bruce, Westminster John Knox Press.

Leadership That Fits Your Church: What Kind of Pastor for What Kind of Congregation. 2012. Cynthia Woolever and Deborah Bruce, Westminster John Knox Press.