How important is being a Christian?

• Introduction
• Patterns

How important is being a Christian? (Demographic Patterns)

Some people say the following things are important for being truly American. Others say they are not important. How important do you think each of the following is... E. To be a Christian

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How important is being a Christian? by Gender (General Social Survey, 2004)

	MALE	FEMALE	TOTAL
VERY IMP.	40.5% 217	54.1% 368	48.1% 585
FAIRLY IMP	17.5% 94	14.4% 98	15.8% 192
NOT VERY	21.5% 115	13.8% 94	17.2% 209
NOT IMPOR.	17.2% 92	15.0% 102	16.0% 194
CANT CHOOS	3.4% 18	2.5% 17	2.9% 35
NO ANSWER	0.0% 0	0.1% 1	0.1% 1
Missing	744	852	1596
TOTAL	100% 536	100% 680	1216

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How important is being a Christian? by Race (General Social Survey, 2004)

	WHITE	BLACK	OTHER	TOTAL
VERY IMP.	46.1% 448	72.7% 120	21.5% 17	48.1% 585
FAIRLY IMP	16.8% 163	6.7% 11	22.8% 18	15.8% 192
NOT VERY	17.5% 170	13.3% 22	21.5% 17	17.2% 209
NOT IMPOR.	17.2% 167	3.6% 6	26.6% 21	16.0% 194
CANT CHOOS	2.5% 24	3.0% 5	7.6% 6	2.9% 35
NO ANSWER	0.0% 0	0.6% 1	0.0% 0	0.1% 1
Missing	1262	212	122	1596
TOTAL	100% 972	100% 165	100% 79	1216

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How important is being a Christian? by Religion (General Social Survey, 2004)

	PROTESTANT	CATHOLIC	OTHER	NONE	Missing	TOTAL
VERY IMP.	63.0% 396	48.3% 139	24.8% 31	11.2% 19	0	48.3% 585
FAIRLY IMP	15.9% 100	22.9% 66	9.6% 12	8.2% 14	0	15.8% 192
NOT VERY	13.7% 86	15.6% 45	19.2% 24	31.2% 53	1	17.2% 208
NOT IMPOR.	6.2% 39	11.8% 34	40.0% 50	40.6% 69	2	15.8% 192
CANT CHOOS	1.3% 8	1.4% 4	5.6% 7	8.8% 15	1	2.8% 34
NO ANSWER	0.0% 0	0.0% 0	0.8% 1	0.0% 0	0	0.1% 1
Missing	854	368	133	233	8	1596
TOTAL	100% 629	100% 288	100% 125	100% 170	12	1212

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How important is being a Christian? by Age (General Social Survey, 2004)

	18-30	31-44	45-64	65+	Missing	TOTAL
VERY IMP.	37.2% 100	43.1% 148	52.4% 226	64.5% 111	0	48.1% 585
FAIRLY IMP	16.7% 45	18.1% 62	13.9% 60	14.5% 25	0	15.8% 192
NOT VERY	19.7% 53	20.1% 69	16.7% 72	8.7% 15	0	17.2% 209
NOT IMPOR.	22.3% 60	15.5% 53	15.5% 67	8.1% 14	0	16.0% 194
CANT CHOOS	4.1% 11	2.9% 10	1.4% 6	4.1% 7	1	2.8% 34
NO ANSWER	0.0% 0	0.3% 1	0.0% 0	0.0% 0	0	0.1% 1
Missing	327	467	536	258	8	1596
TOTAL	100% 269	100% 343	100% 431	100% 172	9	1215

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How important is being a Christian? by Church attendance (General Social Survey, 2004)

	NEVER	< 1 A MNTH	< 1 A WEEK	WEEKLY +	Missing	TOTAL
VERY IMP.	22.2% 44	30.4% 132	59.9% 164	79.7% 244	1	48.2% 584
FAIRLY IMP	12.1% 24	23.3% 101	16.4% 45	7.2% 22	0	15.8% 192
NOT VERY	25.8% 51	23.5% 102	13.1% 36	6.5% 20	0	17.2% 209
NOT IMPOR.	33.3% 66	19.6% 85	8.8% 24	5.2% 16	3	15.8% 191
CANT CHOOS	6.6% 13	3.0% 13	1.8% 5	1.3% 4	0	2.9% 35
NO ANSWER	0.0% 0	0.2% 1	0.0% 0	0.0% 0	0	0.1% 1
Missing	273	531	341	444	7	1596
TOTAL	100% 198	100% 434	100% 274	100% 306	11	1212

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How important is being a Christian? by Education (General Social Survey, 2004)

	LESS HS	HS DEGREE	JR COLL	BA DEGREE	GRAD DEGRE	Missing	TOTAL
VERY IMP.	57.0% 77	52.0% 316	55.8% 58	38.6% 96	31.7% 38	0	48.1% 585
FAIRLY IMP	16.3% 22	17.4% 106	14.4% 15	13.7% 34	12.5% 15	0	15.8% 192
NOT VERY	11.1% 15	15.1% 92	13.5% 14	26.1% 65	19.2% 23	0	17.2% 209
NOT IMPOR.	8.9% 12	13.0% 79	14.4% 15	20.5% 51	30.8% 37	0	16.0% 194
CANT CHOOS	6.7% 9	2.3% 14	1.9% 2	1.2% 3	5.8% 7	0	2.9% 35
NO ANSWER	0.0% 0	0.2% 1	0.0% 0	0.0% 0	0.0% 0	0	0.1% 1
Missing	229	827	120	258	161	1	1596
TOTAL	100% 135	100% 608	100% 104	100% 249	100% 120	1	1216

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Notes

General Social Survey, 2004: General Social Survey: Since 1972, the National Opinion Research Center has conducted a nationwide survey of a random sample of U.S. citizens on a near-yearly basis—the General Social Survey (GSS). In addition to gathering detailed demographic information on respondents, the GSS gathers opinions on a wide variety of topics, such as the role of government in public life, controversial issues such as abortion, confidence in public institutions and a host of others. Of course, respondents are unlikely to spend five hours completing a survey so in order to gather data on a broad range of issues the GSS has adopted the practice of rotating groups of questions into and out of the survey in different years.