Notre Dame Study of Catholic Parish Life: Paid Professional Staff Sample, 1983

The Notre Dame Study of Catholic Parish Life attempts to describe Catholic parishes in the United States roughly twenty years after the reforms of the Second Vatican Council. Beyond the broad descriptive sample of all U.S. parishes, its contextual sampling design permits the scholar to examine both laity, and ordained and non-ordained leadership in various types of parishes. It yields data on participation and organizational involvement, styles of religiosity, church-related attitudes, civic involvement and sociopolitical attitudes, organizational designs and decision-making, and liturgical experience and satisfaction. This is the professional staff component within the series of studies.

Data File

Cases: 89
Variables: 629
Weight Variable: None

Data Collection

Date Collected: October to December 1983

Funded By

The Lilly Endowment, Inc.

Collection Procedures

Paid professional staff were sent self-administered mail questionnaires (38-page questionnaire).

Sampling Procedures

All paid professional staff filling designated positions in 36 randomly selected parishes were sent questionnaires. Seventy-six percent (89-117) of the professional staff returned usable responses.

Principal Investigators

David C. Leege, Michael R. Welch, Mark Searle and Jay Dolan

Related Publications

Byers, Dave, ed. 1986. The Parish in Transition: Proceedings of a Conference on the American Catholic Parish. Washington, D.C.: United States Catholic Conference.

Castelli, Jim and Joseph Gremillion. 1987. The Emerging Parish: The Notre Dame Study of Catholic Parish Life Since Vatican II. San Francisco: Harper & Row.

Dolan, Jay P. 1987. The American Catholic Parish: A History from 1850 to the Present. New York: Paulist Press.

Dolan, Jay P., Scott Appleby, Patricia Byrne, and Debra Campbell. 1989. Transforming Parish Ministry: The Changing Roles of Catholic Clergy, Laity, and Women Religious. New York: Crossroad.