LibGuides: Religion: Data, Public Opinion, Methodology

Using Data

Finding & Using Data or Statistics

Whether you are looking for a simple statistic to give some context in your research paper or more detailed data for analysis, all data and statistics you might find need to be considered critically. Data on religious affiliation is typically gathered either from individuals or from organizations. Sources for data gathered from individuals (such as the Census, American Community Survey, or Statistical Abstract of the United States) tend to be more accurate, but less detailed than data gathered from organizations. For example, data from the Statistical Abstract may have 33 different denomination categories for "Christian," but may only use one category for "Jewish." Data reported by organizations is not always bound by these categories, but because it relies on self-report by the organizations, there is a tendency to over-report membership numbers. Always keep the source of your data or statistics in mind, particularly when comparing numbers from two different sources.

Data Archives

Association of Religion Data Archives
The ARDA democratizes access to the best data on religion. The targeted audience and the data collection includes American and international collections and developing features for educators, journalists, religious congregations, and researchers. Data included in the ARDA are submitted by the foremost religion scholars and research centers in the world.

ICPSR (Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research) This link opens in a new window
Data archive for social scientists. Reed community members may download data and documentation.

DataCite Search
Federated search across interdisciplinary data repositories. DataCite gathers metadata for each DOI assigned to a research object.

Demographics

Social Explorer This link opens in a new window
Easy access to demographic information about the United States, from 1790 to present.

General Social Survey
The General Social Survey (GSS) conducts basic scientific research on the structure and development of American society with a data-collection program designed to both monitor societal change within the United States and to compare the United States to other nations. The GSS contains a standard 'core' of demographic, behavioral, and attitudinal questions, plus topics of special interest. Many of the core questions have remained unchanged since 1972 to facilitate time-trend studies as well as replication of earlier findings. The GSS takes the pulse of America, and is a unique and valuable resource. It has tracked the opinions of Americans over the last four decades.

Sage Data This link opens in a new window
Formerly known as Data Planet Statistical Datasets. Access to a wide variety of economic, social, political indicators, and other structured statistical data. Users can search and browse from over 75 authoritative government and private sources.

Public Opinion

Roper iPoll This link opens in a new window
Provided by the Roper Center for Public Opinion Research at Cornell University, Roper iPoll archives survey data from US and international polling firms with broad topical coverage of opinions and behavior and coverage from 1935 to the present. Includes questions, charts, demographic crosstabs, and dataset downloads.

Pew Research Center on Religion & Public Life
Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan fact tank that informs the public about the issues, attitudes and trends shaping America and the world. It conducts public opinion polling, demographic research, media content analysis and other empirical social science research. Pew Research Center does not take policy positions.

Methodology

Sage Research Methods Online This link opens in a new window
Database of over 600 books, handbooks, and journal articles focusing on research design and methods in the social sciences.

Doing ethnographic research? This is a great place to find guidelines and best practices.