Research In The Social Scientific Study Of Religion Volume 31

This work showcases two approaches to the socio-scientific study of religion: the analysis of data collected about congregational life in the Australian National Church Life Surveys (from 1991 to present), and the application of feminist approaches within the sociology of religion.

The present volume explores lesser-heard and unheard issues in the study of religion. Among other things, lived experiences of religion in higher education are interrogated; culture is studied as lived experience; and “evangelicalism” is outlined as an emic and etic concept.

The purpose of this book is to provide an outlet for original research articles examining the role and value of religious and spiritual constructs across the social sciences. The aim of the series is to include an international and interfaith voice to this research dialogue. An effort is made to be interdisciplinary and academically eclectic. The articles in each volume represent a wide array of perspectives and research projects. Most of the articles report the findings of quantitative or qualitative investigations, but some deal with methodology, theory, or applications of social science studies in the field of religion, and some are applied, demonstrating the relevance of the social sciences to religious organizations and their clergy. The value of the volume is that it gives to researchers in this area a broad perspective on the issues and methods of religious research across a spectrum of academic disciplines. The aim of the book is to stimulate a creative, integrative dialogue that will enhance interdisciplinary research.

The social scientific study of religion is a crucial arena of human endeavor, as questions about the existence and nature of God interact with the study of religion as a human phenomenon. The twenty-third volume of Research in the Social Scientific Study of Religion continues the tradition of promoting extended debate of current issues in the field. The special section on Theism and Non-Theism in Psychological Science includes contributions from leading researchers in this area. This landmark collection of papers draws on a range of perspectives that both summarize the theism debate in psychology and help to move it forward in new directions. In addition, the volume includes papers on other key areas in the study of religion such as spirituality and social capital.

This volume includes a section on spirituality and hope that brings together theoreticists and practitioners who present original research on this important topic. Alongside this section are papers presenting studies on civic participation, suffering with God and spirituality.

Research in the Social Scientific Study of Religion (RSSSR) publishes reports of innovative studies that pertain empirically or theoretically to the scientific study of religion, including spirituality, regardless of their academic discipline or professional orientation. Various articles are presented covering psychological, sociological and cross-cultural topics relevant to religious/spiritual researchers and academics.

This volume of RSSSR contains articles on conversion narratives of Jehovah’s witnesses, belief in an active Satan, afterlife beliefs, religiosity and parenting and spirituality as coping resource.

Various articles are presented covering psychological, sociological and cross-cultural topics or relevance to religious/spiritual researchers and academics.