scholarly journals Low Religion or No Religion? Improving Research with the Logic of Machine Learning

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Evan Stewart
Keyword(s):  
Logistic Regression Model ◽  
Religious Affiliation ◽  
Social Science Research ◽  
General Social Survey ◽  
Science Research ◽  
Culture Wars ◽  
Selection Effects ◽  
Social Survey ◽  
Political Views ◽  
Survey Measure

Social science research is interested in the growing number of Americans who express no religious affiliation on surveys, but concerns about underreporting, misreporting, and inconsistency in lived religion raises a question about our most common survey measure of nonreligious self-identification. What is the predictive validity of our current explanations for why people disaffiliate? I advance the current literature using a logistic regression model for no religious affiliation fit on eleven samples from the General Social Survey (1988-2014) to predict respondents’ affiliation in the 2016 and 2018 samples. Results show our explanations can yield a fairly accurate predictive model, but errors are important and informative. The model is more likely to misclassify religiously unaffiliated respondents as affiliated. Analysis using model estimates shows that selection effects into non-affiliation explain differences in political views on culture wars issues. These findings challenge the use of categorical measures for nonreligion alone, because they suggest that measures of “low religion,” rather than “no religion,” are more useful for researchers seeking to overcome survey measurement error in studying this group.

scholarly journals Does the public’s confidence in the scientific community affect its willingness to participate in social science research? A test examining the demeanor of survey respondents

2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 205979911988428
Author(s):  
Christopher P Scheitle
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Social Science ◽  
Scientific Community ◽  
Social Science Research ◽  
General Social Survey ◽  
Science Research ◽  
Willingness To Participate ◽  
Medical Sciences ◽  
Social Survey ◽  
The Social

Research examining the consequences of the public’s confidence in the scientific community has primarily focused on the natural or medical sciences. It is not clear whether the public’s confidence in the scientific community has implications for research and practice in the social sciences. To begin examining this question, this study assesses whether survey respondents’ confidence in the scientific community is associated with their demeanor during the survey interview. This is consequential because respondent demeanor itself has been associated with survey refusal and nonresponse to items within surveys. Analysis of the 2004–2016 General Social Survey finds that individuals expressing more confidence in the scientific community are rated as having more positive demeanors by interviewers. Respondents’ confidence in other types of institutions does not show the same association, suggesting that confidence in the scientific community is uniquely associated with respondents’ demeanor during the interview. These findings suggest that the public’s confidence in science could have implications for at least survey-based social science research.

Religion and Happiness

2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Hout ◽  
Andrew Greeley
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Religious Affiliation ◽  
General Social Survey ◽  
The United States ◽  
Religious Groups ◽  
Social Survey ◽  
Religious Rituals ◽  
Religious Services ◽  
Using Data ◽  
International Social

This chapter discusses the link between happiness and religion. It draws on meaning-and-belonging theory to deduce that a religious affiliation heightens happiness through participation in collective religious rituals. Attendance and engagement appear key: a merely nominal religious affiliation makes people little happier. Notably, two religious foundations of happiness—affiliation with organized religious groups and attendance at services—have fallen. Softened religious engagement, then, may contribute to the slight downturn in general happiness. In fact, steady happiness is reported among those who participate frequently in religious services, but falling levels among those who are less involved. The chapter also considers the association between religion and happiness outside the United States using data from the International Social Survey Program, an international collaborative survey to which the General Social Survey contributes the American data.

scholarly journals Lonely, Poor, and Ugly? How Cultural Practices and Forms of Capital Relate to Physical Unattractiveness

2020 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 80-105
Author(s):  
Christian Schneickert ◽  
Leonie C. Steckermeier ◽  
Lisa-Marie Brand
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Practices ◽  
Social Science Research ◽  
General Social Survey ◽  
Physical Appearance ◽  
Cultural Sociology ◽  
Science Research ◽  
Dark Side ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Positive Effects ◽  
Structure And Agency

Physical attractiveness is increasingly framed as a meritocratic good that involves individual benefits, such as higher wages or success in the partner market. Investing in one’s physical appearance is thereby seen as a means to increase one’s human capital. While the positive effects are well documented, its counterpart, the dark side of physical appearance, has received much less attention from social science research. This article sheds light on the negative effects of physical appearance using a theoretical framework based on the cultural sociology of Bourdieu, integrating both structure and agency perspectives. Using data from the German General Social Survey (ALLBUS) from 2014, we demonstrate that unattractiveness is socially stratified by economic, cultural, and social capital. The article highlights the relevance of cultural factors (e.g. forms of cultural capital and cultural practices) for the analysis of the interplay between physical appearance and stratification as well as the relevance of physical appearance for cultural sociology.

Judeo-Christian Attitudes Toward Employed Women

2000 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 145-147 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael L. Harville ◽  
Beth M. Rienzi
Keyword(s):  
Religious Affiliation ◽  
General Social Survey ◽  
Working Women ◽  
Social Survey ◽  
Men And Women ◽  
National Opinion Research ◽  
Religious Women ◽  
Employed Women ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Beliefs And Attitudes

The relationship between Judeo-Christian beliefs and attitudes toward employed women was examined. Participants ( N = 9,742) responded to the National Opinion Research Center's General Social Survey (Davis & Smith, 1996a). Attitudes toward employed women varied by strength of religiosity, gender, religious affiliation, and year; as strength of religiosity increased, attitudes became more traditional. Men had more traditional attitudes than women. The women who are more religious had attitudes that were more conservative than less religious women. Christians had more traditional attitudes than Jews and the nonreligious. Between 1985 and 1996, attitudes became less traditional. These findings suggest that attitudes toward working women are changing in a gradual manner, but that men and women hold very different attitudes about working women, even within the same religious affiliation.

scholarly journals Social science and forestry curricula: Some survey results

2001 ◽  
Vol 77 (1) ◽  
pp. 121-126 ◽  
Author(s):  
David B. Tindall
Keyword(s):  
Social Science ◽  
Key Words ◽  
Survey Research ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Social Science Research ◽  
Science Research ◽  
Science Content ◽  
Social Survey ◽  
Survey Results

In this article, findings from a study of a forestry curriculum are used to identify current gaps and potential avenues of pedagogical contributions pertaining to social science content. In setting a context for this analysis a brief review of the potential contributions of social science to forestry, and a description of current social science research on forestry in B.C. and the surrounding region is provided. Survey results from: 1) stakeholders in forestry, 2) forestry undergraduate students, and 3) forestry faculty all point to the need for incorporating more social science content into forestry curricula. These survey results dovetail with observations about the need for more social science research on forestry topics. Key words: social science, forestry curricula, intergroup differences, social survey research

Looking Beyond Demographics: Panel Attrition in the ANES and GSS

2014 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
pp. 336-353 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura Lazarus Frankel ◽  
D. Sunshine Hillygus
Keyword(s):  
Social Science Research ◽  
General Social Survey ◽  
Science Research ◽  
Drop Out ◽  
Panel Surveys ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Demographic Predictors ◽  
Panel Attrition ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Data Collections

Longitudinal or panel surveys offer unique benefits for social science research, but they typically suffer from attrition, which reduces sample size and can result in biased inferences. Previous research tends to focus on the demographic predictors of attrition, conceptualizing attrition propensity as a stable, individual-level characteristic—some individuals (e.g., young, poor, residentially mobile) are more likely to drop out of a study than others. We argue that panel attrition reflects both the characteristics of the individual respondent as well as her survey experience, a factor shaped by the design and implementation features of the study. In this article, we examine and compare the predictors of panel attrition in the 2008–2009 American National Election Study, an online panel, and the 2006–2010 General Social Survey, a face-to-face panel. In both cases, survey experience variables are predictive of panel attrition above and beyond the standard demographic predictors, but the particular measures of relevance differ across the two surveys. The findings inform statistical corrections for panel attrition bias and provide study design insights for future panel data collections.

scholarly journals Thank God? The Effect of Religious Attitudes and Behaviors on Emotions

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jadon Sokoll-Ward
Keyword(s):  
Religious Affiliation ◽  
General Social Survey ◽  
Religious Service Attendance ◽  
Social Survey ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Religious Attitudes ◽  
Attitudes And Behaviors ◽  
And Behaviors ◽  
Nationally Representative ◽  
The Relationship

What is the effect of one’s religious attitudes and behaviors on the frequency of different emotions? I propose that a stronger religious affiliation and a higher frequency of attending religious services will lead to feeling happy and ashamed more often and feeling sad, anxious, and mad less often. Further, I propose that a higher frequency of prayer will lead to feeling sad, anxious, mad, and ashamed more often and feeling happy less often. I analyze the frequency of these emotions in 892 respondents to the 1996 General Social Survey, a nationally representative dataset obtained via face to face interviews. Regression analysis revealed that more frequent prayer leads to feeling sad and ashamed more often, and more frequent religious service attendance leads to feeling anxious less often. Demographic control variables are also found to have an effect on how frequently one feels sad, mad, and anxious. The results offer partial support for the hypotheses. Further research is necessary to reconcile these differences and to explain the mechanisms by which the relationship between religiosity and emotions operates.

scholarly journals Religion, Entrepreneurship, Income and Employment

2014 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bruce Kingma ◽  
Ryan Yeung
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Exploratory Study ◽  
Family Income ◽  
Religious Affiliation ◽  
General Social Survey ◽  
The United States ◽  
Mixed Result ◽  
Matched Sample ◽  
Social Survey ◽  
The Family

This exploratory study compares the entrepreneurial tendency and family income across religious denominations in the United States.  Information from the General Social Survey (GSS) database on self-employed and a matched sample of those employed by others is used to compare the family income and incidence of entrepreneurship by religion.  We show that Protestants are more likely to be self-employed than Catholics, although both are less likely than those that are not religious or Jews.  Religious affiliation has a mixed result on income, although increased attendance at religious services increases income for those employed by others.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/ijssm.v1i1.8641 Int. J. Soc. Sci. Manage. Vol.1(1) 2014 3-9

Religion and Political Conflict: “No Religious Affiliation” in the United States

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kristi Winters
Keyword(s):  
20Th Century ◽  
Religious Identity ◽  
Religious Affiliation ◽  
General Social Survey ◽  
The United States ◽  
Political Conflict ◽  
Social Forces ◽  
Social Survey ◽  
Religious Identification ◽  
Over Time

After years of exceptionally high levels of religious adherence and identity, the latter part of the 20th century saw the start of a trend: increasing numbers of Americans reported they had no religious affiliation when asked by pollsters. From the start of polling on religious beliefs and identity in the mid-20th century, Americans were unlikely to report they had “none” when asked to name their religious identity. National surveys in the 1970s and 1980s found fewer than one-in-ten American adults reported they had no religious affiliation. After decades of reported religious belief levels and religious identity patterns that remained robust, America is experiencing a decline in religiosity in the 21st century. Research in 2016 found that nearly one-quarter of those surveyed identified as “atheist,” “agnostic,” or “nothing in particular,” nearly triple the 9% reporting the same during the General Social Survey in 1992. Those without a religious identification are now the second largest “religious” group in America What accounts for the observed changes in American’s religious affiliation responses over time? Social researchers have identified more than one possible source of change. One could be changing social forces; a second source of variation might come from changes in which people, how people, and why people answer religious affiliation questions over time; and third, the factors people say were the source of change in their religious affiliation.

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