Measuring Church Attendance: A Further Look

Recent research on Protestants and Catholics in the United States has shown that estimates of worship attendance based on individual survey reports yield significantly higher totals than the attendance numbers reported by the churches. This paper provides additional evidence on the discrepancy using...

Description complète

Enregistré dans:  
Détails bibliographiques
Auteur principal: Marcum, John P. (Auteur)
Type de support: Électronique Article
Langue:Anglais
Vérifier la disponibilité: HBZ Gateway
Journals Online & Print:
En cours de chargement...
Fernleihe:Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste
Publié: Springer 1999
Dans: Review of religious research
Année: 1999, Volume: 41, Numéro: 1, Pages: 122-130
Accès en ligne: Volltext (lizenzpflichtig)
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig)
Édition parallèle:Non-électronique
Description
Résumé:Recent research on Protestants and Catholics in the United States has shown that estimates of worship attendance based on individual survey reports yield significantly higher totals than the attendance numbers reported by the churches. This paper provides additional evidence on the discrepancy using data for the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) for 1990, 1993, and 1996. In each year estimates of church attendance based on individual survey responses are higher than independent estimates based on congregational reports. Further analyses examine additional questions on church absences and the use of time on Sundays to evaluate alternative measurement strategies. The results suggest that more accurate estimates of church attendance are possible using surveys but that entirely valid estimates are unlikely as long as social desirability influences self reports.
ISSN:2211-4866
Contient:Enthalten in: Review of religious research
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.2307/3512431