Browse 114 concepts used in the study of religion, review how survey researchers measured them in the past, and quickly compare the results of more than 7,600 survey questions.
The archive is a collection of surveys, polls, and other data submitted by the foremost scholars and research centers in the world. Review and analyze data online, or download free of charge.
Examine the religious composition, religious freedoms, demographics, constitutional clauses, survey findings and multiple social and political measures for 250 nations.
View maps of the United States and individual states for hundreds of variables, including congregational membership, census data, crime statistics and many others.
Generate congregational membership reports for any county, state and urban area in the United States using data collected by the Religious Congregations & Membership Study.
The profiles chart schisms and mergers, document membership trends, offer basic descriptions, and link to additional resources for more than 400 past and present American religious groups.
Browse dozens of topics from a major national survey of religious congregations. See how the responses vary by the size, religious family and region of the congregation.
Browse dozens of topics covered by major national surveys. See how the responses vary by demographic categories and, when available, how they change over time.
View maps of the United States and individual states for hundreds of variables, including congregational membership, census data, crime statistics and many others.
Hoge, D., Zech, C., McNamara, P., & Donahue, M. (2020, August 26). American Congregational Giving Study, Gallup Poll, 1993.
Summary
No church is entirely satisfied with the level of financial support it receives from its members. For this reason, the Lilly Endowment commissioned a nation-wide study of giving in U.S. churches, which came to be known as the American Congregational Giving Study. One aspect consisted of a telephone survey of 1,002 U.S. church members. Three denominations were chosen to be studied: the Southern Baptist Convention, the Roman Catholic Church, and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Respondents were asked about their attitudes toward their denomination and congregation, their personal religious beliefs, their religious contributions and their socioeconomic status.
The sampling universe consisted of U.S. members of 3 denominations: the Southern Baptist Convention, the Roman Catholic Church, and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.
The sample was to consist of 1,000 persons, 18 years or older, contacted through random telephone dialing. Only persons who said they were Catholic, Baptist, or Lutheran and who said they belonged to a church near where they lived were included. It was specified that the final sample would need at least 175 Baptist, 175 Catholic, and 175 Lutheran church members. The total final sample consisted of 1002 cases: 533 Catholics, 294 Baptists and 175 Lutherans.
Response Rate Of the telephone calls that were non-business numbers, 87.3 percent resulted in the contact of a human respondent. Of these persons, 72.0 percent either completed the interview or were deemed unqualified. The total response rate was thus 62.8 percent.
Over-Sampling and Weighting All respondents were asked about their denomination; Baptists were interviewed, unless they said that they belonged to the American Baptist Church (formerly the Northern Baptist Convention). This was done because of widespread misunderstandings among Baptists about specific denominations. The Baptist sample had a large number of blacks (who belonged to other Baptist denominations or were unclear about specific denominations). Therefore, the Baptist blacks were down-weighted to match the percent in the Southern Baptist Convention (about 2.5%). The value of the weights used were.115 for black members and 1.244 for white members.
Principal Investigators
Dean Hoge Charles Zech Patrick McNamara Michael Donahue