NATIONAL STUDY OF YOUTH AND RELIGION (NSYR)
The NSYR is a major, longitudinal, mixed-methods research project investigating the lives, particularly the religious faith and practice, of American youth. This project, and is currently funded through December 2011. The NSYR, generously supported by Lilly Endowment Inc. since August 2001, has collected two waves of survey and interview data and is collecting a third wave of data in 2008. The NSYR is headed by Dr. Christian Smith, Director of the Center for the Sociology of Religion at Notre Dame, and co-directed by Dr. Lisa Pearce, Assistant Professors of Sociology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and Dr. Melinda Denton, Assistant Professor of Sociology at Clemson University. www.youthandreligion.org
THE PANEL STUDY ON AMERICAN RELIGION AND ETHNICITY (PS-ARE)
The PS-ARE is an unprecedented, multi-level panel study focused on religion in the U.S., with a particular focus on capturing ethnic and racial diversity. The PS-ARE seeks to show the impact of religion in everyday life. It includes substantive modules on family relationships, deviance, health, civic participation and volunteering, moral and social attitudes, and race and ethnic issues. In time, this panel study is expected to develop into a multi-wave longitudinal study comprising both individual and congregational level data. The PS-ARE, which is directed by Dr. David Sikkink, is generously funded by Lilly Endowment Inc., involves additional funding from the John Templeton Foundation, and is being conducted in collaboration with Dr. Michael Emerson at Rice University.
RELIGION AND PUBLIC ACTIVISM SURVEY (RAPAS)
The 2002 RAPAS is a telephone survey representing English-speaking Americans 18 years of age and older who resided in households in the U.S., conducted from April to July 2002 using a random-digit-dial method, employing a sample of randomly generated telephone numbers representative of all telephones in the 50 States. RAPAS contains topic modules on, among other things, attitudes and behaviors about September 11, tolerance, ego-networks, voluntary organizations, religion, and civic engagement. The final sample size for RAPAS was 2,898. Co-Investigators in the RAPAS project include Christian Smith, David Sikkink, Michael Welch, and Dan Myers of the Department of Sociology at Notre Dame and Dr. Kraig Beyerlein, Assistant Professor of Sociology at the University of Arizona.
THE HUMAN PERSONHOOD AND SOCIAL SCIENCES PROJECT
This collaborative project is exploring non-reductionistic accounts of the nature of the human person as they relate to the work of the social sciences. The project is gathering together interdisciplinary groups of scholars in sociology, psychology, political science, philosophy, theology, and law to discuss key questions toward developing new theoretical models of the nature of human personhood in ways that might improve theoretical and empirical work in the social sciences. To see pictures from the first consultation meeting, click here.
THE “MULTIPLE MODERNITIES” PROJECT
This collaborative project is exploring and developing through working groups, seminars, and focused research projects the theoretical idea of multiple modernities—particularly, though not exclusively, as it relates to religious and moral life—around the world. Multiple modernities provides a theoretical and analytical framework for understanding cultural and institutional social change at the global, national, and sub-cultural levels that represents an alternative to both traditional modernization and secularization theories as well as to the theory of post-modernism. The Multiple Modernities Project is led by Dr. Christian Smith. http://www.nd.edu/~csmith22
THE RELIGIOUS FINANCIAL AND CHARITABLE GIVING PROJECT
This project is conducting secondary analyses of survey data and primary data collection through personal interviews to better understand patterns and dynamics of religious and charitable giving in the U.S., particularly among American Christians.
RELIGION SURVEY DATA EXPANSION PROJECT (RELSDEP)
The RelSDEP project is designed to increase the availability of a large number of top quality survey dataset resources for the study of religion and spirituality and to increase the number of capable social science scholars analyzing religious and spiritual factors in the operation of human social life. The collaborative project committee of highly experienced social science survey researchers with interests in religion and spirituality is comparatively evaluating the merits of specific new or revised religion and spirituality survey questions and investigating well established, high quality, and highly respected existing surveys on which these questions could be placed. For more information about this project, please contact Eric.K.Sartain.1@nd.edu.
INNOVATIVE RESEARCH ON GENEROSITY
This project is laying the preliminary knowledge and social-network groundwork for a possible future research project investigating generosity. The project defines generosity as the disposition and practice of freely giving of one's financial resources, time, and talents. Generosity thus includes, for example, charitable financial giving, volunteering, and the dedication of one's gifts for the welfare of others or the common good. The project team will research and mobilize around investigating how the different manifestations of generosity relate to each other, whether diverse factors differently influence different expressions of generosity, and whether the impact of various forms of generosity on the givers are similar or different.
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