Let's See the 'Buts'

f one wants information on large numbers of people, it makes perfect sense to use survey methods yielding statistical data. Depending on the nature of the data, one can then make correlations between, say, religious affiliation, age, gender, income, location and party registration. If you are running for political office, start a local church, or sell a product or a service, this information can be very useful. Some data of course are available from public sources, such as party registration in a locality. But most surveys are looking for information that can only be obtained by asking individuals for their self-identification, opinions and behavior—so, you are a Democrat, what is your view of the Obama foreign policy, are you in favor of sending ground troops to Iraq? You may also be interested in the religious factor: You are Catholic, what is your party registration, are you in favor of sending in ground troops? And so on. The trouble with such survey data is that they come from responses to pre-set questions that may miss the nuances in the respondent’s view of things. That is a particular problem in the area of religion. I think that qualitative methods are more likely to catch the nuances. All the same, competently handled survey data about religion can be very informative. One of the most competent source for religious data from many countries is the Pew Research Center in Washington, specifically its division “Religion and Public Life”, directed by Luis Lugo.