Posted on 12/02/2010 8:39:58 AM PST by SeekAndFind
A new University of Michigan study finds that Americans are much more likely to exaggerate their attendance at religious services than are people in many other countries.
"Americans have long been viewed as exceptionally religious compared to other nations in the developed world," said Philip Brenner, a research fellow at the U-M Institute for Social Research (ISR) and the author of the study. "But this study suggests that American religiosity may be exceptional not in terms of actual behavior, but rather in terms of identity.
"In the U.S., and to a lesser extent in Canada, the gap between what we say and what we do is substantial, and has been so for the last several decades."
The study appears in the forthcoming Public Opinion Quarterly.
For the study, Brenner analyzed two types of evdence about religiosity for each country: conventional survey questions asking respondents how often they attend religious services, and time diary data recording Sunday activities. The data, covering a period from 1975 to 2008, came from a variety of time use studies and cross-cultural surveys, including the ISR World Values Surveys and the American National Election Studies.
In addition to the United States and Canada, the countries studied were the Netherlands, Germany, France, Norway, Finland, Slovenia, Spain, Austria, Italy, Great Britain and Ireland.
While conventional survey data show high and stable American church attendance rates of about 35 to 45 percent, the time diary data over the past decade reveal attendance rates of just 24 to 25 percent -- a figure in line with a number of European countries.
America maintains a gap of 10 to 18 percentage points between what people say they do on survey questions, and what time diary data says they actually do, Brenner reports.
(Excerpt) Read more at sciencedaily.com ...
**The study appears in the forthcoming Public Opinion Quarterly.**
Interesting — we’ll have to follow it when it comes out.
I’m Catholic. Our mass has 1/2 the people it had 10-15 years ago. Very few young people unless they are dragged in by their parents.
My uncle is Methodist. Their church went from 300-400 people down to 40-50 and those are mainly 70+ years old.
Yet you have mega churches popping up everywhere and thriving.
I think people are getting away from denominational religion.
Which means European countries are lying as well...their attendance is probably 10-15%.
And many have turned "worshiping" services into yet other versions of a Broadway Show.
Joel Olst..cough cough ahem... feel good religion.
Gee Joel - nice tie...and Brooks Bros. suit...lol.
I even thought I saw vendors hawking programs, peanuts, and beer organic tea at his last venue.
“Time diary data? Sounds suspect.
The same page also lists studies as “Weekly Religious Attendance Nearly As Effective As Statins And Exercise In Extending Life
and
Go To Church And Breathe Easier
Moe stats here, but site is down today: http://peacebyjesus.witnesstoday.org/RevealingStatistics.html
in medicine, we are told that when we ask someone how much they drink, to double it. Sounds about the same here, but in the other direction.
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