Researching Religion - Why We Need Social Science
Reduzierte Artikel in dieser Kategorie
| Verlag | Oxford University Press |
| Auflage | 2018 |
| Seiten | 256 |
| Format | 13,7 x 22,4 x 2,0 cm |
| Print PDF | |
| Gewicht | 436 g |
| Artikeltyp | Englisches Buch |
| ISBN-10 | 0198786581 |
| EAN | 9780198786580 |
| Bestell-Nr | 19878658EA |
This indispensable reference tool offers a practicing social scientist's guide to researching social causes, components, and consequences of religion in the modern world.
Researching Religion: Why We Need Social Science establishes the relevance of social science for the study of religion and promotes a particular kind of social science. Even if we confine ourselves to academic disciplines, there are very many ways of viewing religion. Certain kinds of questions about religion can only be answered by the methods and approaches of social science: if one is interested in the social causes and consequences of religious belief and behaviour, then one has to do social science. Steve Bruce underlines the value of quantitative social research. He shows that while detailed ethnographies have enormous value in helping us get 'inside' religious belief and behaviour, they are severely limited by problems of scale and representativeness in their value for generating and testing explanations. While the primary focus is social research, the examples are drawn from studies of religious belief and behaviour, so it also presents a very large number of important obs ervations about the nature of religion in the modern world. This book is an informative, concise reference for students trying to unpick quantitative religious research. It shows how to gather valuable research and avoid pitfalls.
Inhaltsverzeichnis:
1: Prelude: Some Basic Principles of Social Research
2: The Value of Social Science
3: Defining Religion
4: Measuring Religion
5: Bias in Social Research
6: Ethics in Social Research
7: Conversion: Motives, Structures, and Discourse
8: Social Theory and Religion
9: Action Rational and Irrational
10: Does Danger Make People Religious?
Rezension:
the book is consistently accessible, funny, and illuminating. Kristen Tobey, Religious Studies Review
