Analysis | Catholic Pluralism Project, 1995 | Data Archive | The Association of Religion Data Archives

Catholic Pluralism Project, 1995

Data Archive > U.S. Surveys > Religious Groups > Members or Leaders > Catholic > Analysis

ABSOLUTE (Weighted by WEIGHT)

ASKED ONLY OF THOSE RESPONDENTS WHO HAD CATHOLIC RELIGION TEACHERS WHEN THEY WERE YOUNG OR CONVERTED: Now I'm going to ask you several questions about the things your religion teacher taught you. In each case there are only two choices. Which one did your religion teachers stress most? -- Absolutism and relativism

	1) That some actions are always right or always wrong
	2) That the rightness or wrongness of our actions depends on the circumstances
	3) An equal mixture of both
	4) Don't know

Category	Frequency	Percentage	Cumulative Percentage
That some actions are always right or always wrong	1211	57.5%	57.5%
That the rightness or wrongness of our actions depends on the circumstances	704	33.4%	90.9%
An equal mixture of both	42	2%	92.9%
Don't know	149	7.1%	100%
Missing	534	%	%

Variable Comparisons

Education (I-EDUCATN)

	Lt HS grad	HS grad	SmCol/Tech	Coll. grad	Post-grad	Missing	TOTAL
That some actions are always right or always wrong	29.5% 36	54.3% 325	59.5% 300	64.8% 223	74.9% 125	203	58.1% 1009
That the rightness or wrongness of our actions depends on the circumstances	54.1% 66	33.6% 201	29.4% 148	29.1% 100	19.2% 32	157	31.5% 547
An equal mixture of both	0.8% 1	3.8% 23	0.2% 1	4.1% 14	0.0% 0	3	2.2% 39
Don't know	15.6% 19	8.3% 50	10.9% 55	2.0% 7	6.0% 10	8	8.1% 141
Missing	55	143	112	87	18	0	415
TOTAL	100.0% 122	100.0% 599	100.0% 504	100.0% 344	100.0% 167	371	1736

Marital status (I-MARITAL)

	Married	Widowed	Div./Sep.	Single	Missing	TOTAL
That some actions are always right or always wrong	63.0% 766	49.6% 66	61.3% 152	43.8% 220	7	57.4% 1204
That the rightness or wrongness of our actions depends on the circumstances	28.3% 344	36.1% 48	25.0% 62	49.6% 249	1	33.5% 703
An equal mixture of both	1.5% 18	0.8% 1	2.8% 7	3.2% 16	0	2.0% 42
Don't know	7.2% 87	13.5% 18	10.9% 27	3.4% 17	0	7.1% 149
Missing	259	53	82	139	0	533
TOTAL	100.0% 1215	100.0% 133	100.0% 248	100.0% 502	8	2098

Sex (I-SEX)

	Male	Female	TOTAL
That some actions are always right or always wrong	55.9% 442	58.5% 770	57.5% 1212
That the rightness or wrongness of our actions depends on the circumstances	34.4% 272	32.8% 432	33.4% 704
An equal mixture of both	1.9% 15	2.1% 27	2.0% 42
Don't know	7.7% 61	6.7% 88	7.1% 149
Missing	252	282	534
TOTAL	100.0% 790	100.0% 1317	2107

Year of birth (I-YRBORN)

	In or before 1940	1941-1960	After 1960	TOTAL
That some actions are always right or always wrong	51.1% 261	65.6% 555	52.7% 395	57.5% 1211
That the rightness or wrongness of our actions depends on the circumstances	32.9% 168	26.2% 222	41.9% 314	33.4% 704
An equal mixture of both	3.3% 17	2.0% 17	1.1% 8	2.0% 42
Don't know	12.7% 65	6.1% 52	4.3% 32	7.1% 149
Missing	158	173	204	535
TOTAL	100.0% 511	100.0% 846	100.0% 749	2106

Region (I-REGION)

	Northeast	Midwest	South	West	Missing	TOTAL
That some actions are always right or always wrong	62.2% 568	60.1% 316	59.2% 171	40.2% 66	90	59.2% 1121
That the rightness or wrongness of our actions depends on the circumstances	30.3% 277	34.8% 183	32.2% 93	40.9% 67	83	32.8% 620
An equal mixture of both	1.6% 15	0.2% 1	2.8% 8	1.8% 3	14	1.4% 27
Don't know	5.8% 53	4.9% 26	5.9% 17	17.1% 28	25	6.6% 124
Missing	180	107	108	62	0	457
TOTAL	100.0% 913	100.0% 526	100.0% 289	100.0% 164	212	1892

Race (I-RACE)

	White	Latino	African-Am	Other	Missing	TOTAL
That some actions are always right or always wrong	60.4% 1014	40.7% 105	51.0% 25	55.4% 51	16	57.5% 1195
That the rightness or wrongness of our actions depends on the circumstances	30.5% 512	53.9% 139	42.9% 21	32.6% 30	2	33.8% 702
An equal mixture of both	1.8% 30	1.2% 3	0.0% 0	7.6% 7	2	1.9% 40
Don't know	7.3% 123	4.3% 11	6.1% 3	4.3% 4	8	6.8% 141
Missing	376	109	19	16	0	520
TOTAL	100.0% 1679	100.0% 258	100.0% 49	100.0% 92	28	2078

Convert? (I-CONVERT)

	Raisd Cath	Cnvrt Cath	Missing	TOTAL
That some actions are always right or always wrong	57.8% 1163	49.5% 46	2	57.5% 1209
That the rightness or wrongness of our actions depends on the circumstances	33.1% 665	41.9% 39	0	33.5% 704
An equal mixture of both	2.0% 41	1.1% 1	0	2.0% 42
Don't know	7.1% 142	7.5% 7	0	7.1% 149
Missing	398	133	0	531
TOTAL	100.0% 2011	100.0% 93	2	2104

Household income (I-INCOME)

	Under 15K	15K-29,999	30K-49,999	50K-79,999	80K & over	Missing	TOTAL
That some actions are always right or always wrong	36.3% 62	57.5% 210	62.5% 365	64.6% 287	62.3% 193	92	59.6% 1117
That the rightness or wrongness of our actions depends on the circumstances	53.2% 91	31.0% 113	29.8% 174	27.9% 124	34.5% 107	94	32.5% 609
An equal mixture of both	5.3% 9	4.4% 16	2.2% 13	0.0% 0	0.3% 1	3	2.1% 39
Don't know	5.3% 9	7.1% 26	5.5% 32	7.4% 33	2.9% 9	39	5.8% 109
Missing	51	139	122	85	63	0	460
TOTAL	100.0% 171	100.0% 365	100.0% 584	100.0% 444	100.0% 310	228	1874