Article Abstracts
September 2007

EXPANDING THE USE OF THE INTERNET IN RELIGIOUS RESEARCH

WILLIAM SIMS BAINBRIDGE
NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION

This article illustrates and discusses the merits of four Internet-based methods of research on religion: online questionnaires, recommender systems, website link analysis, and social geography based on variables culled from Internet. These methods are solidly rooted in traditional social-science quantitative methodologies, but they offer new opportunities, notably the ability to chart the contours and dimensions of religious cultures and subcultures in the modern world.

A GROWING WEB OF RESOURCES:
THE ASSOCIATION OF RELIGION DATA ARCHIVES (ARDA)
www.TheARDA.com

ROGER FINKE
PENN STATE UNIVERSITY

CHRISTOPHER D. BADER
EDWARD C. POLSON
BAYLOR UNIVERSITY

Since going online in 1998, the goal of the ARDA has been to democratize access to quality data on religion without compromising the integrity of the information being archived. By the fall of 2006, the ARDA was archiving nearly 400 files, including the General Social Survey, Religious Congregations and Membership Study, Faith Communities Today, National Congregations Study, Baylor Religion Survey, U.S. Congregational Life Survey and many others. As our holdings have multiplied, the ARDA has increased its outreach beyond religion researchers. A growing number of tools, such as National Profiles, Maps and Reports, and QuickStats, allow the ARDA to be used as an online reference by researchers, the press, congregations, educators and others. This paper serves as a guide to the resources available on the ARDA. In particular we will focus upon our expanded international holdings, our online reference features, the ARDA's ability to serve as a virtual research center, and our intention to become a greater resource to educators via an online learning center.

ELECTRONIC GAME RESEARCH METHODOLOGIES:
STUDYING RELIGIOUS IMPLICATIONS

WILLIAM SIMS BAINBRIDGE
NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION

WILMA ALICE BAINBRIDGE
YALE UNIVERSITY

A collection of pilot studies is described, illustrating how the religious implications of video games can be studied electronically by content analysis, natural language processing, ethnography or participant observation, and online interviewing. Many popular games for the Nintendo, PlayStation, and Xbox platforms either mock accepted religion or present heterodox, exotic, or imagined alternatives to it. Online games and virtual environments, like World of Warcraft and Second Life, offer inhabitants emotionally compelling experiences connected to spirituality and the supernatural. The methods employed here emphasize qualitative approaches, but connect them to quantitative approaches as well. Methods like these can be useful to study a variety of religion-related topics online. Electronic games are an especially good example to illustrate these methods because they, like the World Wide Web itself, are a commercially successful vanguard of the new technologies that may be transforming human culture.

POTENTIAL RESPONSE BIAS IN INTERNET USE
FOR SURVEY RELIGIOUS RESEARCH

MARJORIE H. ROYLE
CLAY POTS RESEARCH

DESTINY SHELLHAMMER
UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST

Increased use of internet technology for survey research has raised concerns about the representativeness, validity and generalizability of results. The Worshiping into God’s Future surveys conducted by the United Church of Christ included an option to complete surveys either by internet or mail, providing an opportunity to compare responders’ demographic characteristics by each method, as well as differences in results obtained. The newest congregations, the largest, and those with websites were more likely to have completed surveys on the internet. Asian/Pacific Islander and African-American congregations were more likely than white congregations to have used the internet, although their overall response rates were lower. Internet use decreased with age among laity, and was lower among clergy with 40 or more years of experience. Lay internet responders were more critical of worship than others. Clergy internet responders were less traditional in opinions about worship, more innovative, and more interested in additional electronic resources. Differences were greater for opinions than for worship practices, which differed little by mode of responding. Surveys conducted only via the internet would likely overestimate interest in innovation, and the use of both modes is recommended for greatest generalizability.

WEB SURVEYS:
APPLICATIONS IN DENOMINATIONAL RESEARCH

REBECCA C. SIMS
EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CHURCH IN AMERICA

Five surveys were conducted using the Internet for various constituents of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). In three cases, participants were sent e-mail invitations with links to the on-line surveys. Two questionnaires were primarily paper-and-pencil instruments with the option of completing the survey on-line. A new software package that integrates Web forms and scannable paper forms was tested and implemented. Overall, the five Web surveys conducted were successful with response rates ranging from ten to 58 percent. In almost all cases, paper response rates were higher than Web response rates. An item analysis for one survey revealed several differences between Web and paper respondents, suggesting possible systematic differences between those who chose one response format over another. Age was also a significant factor, with older respondents generally choosing the paper format. Methods to increase Web response rates are discussed and the strengths and weaknesses of Web surveys in a denominational context are explored.