Despite very low levels of church attendance and membership, surveys show that there seem to be a survival of some religious belief. According to the 1998 British Social Attitudes survey, 21% of those surveyed agreed to the statement ‘I know God exists and I have no doubt about it’ whereas only 10% said that they did not believe in God at all.
Other aspects of secularisation
The apparent growth of secularisation would seem to be the result of the combination of a number of factors. Wilson and Wallis cite evidence in addition to statistics. They argue that secularisation is a development rooted in modernity and the focus of three key processes:
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Rationalisation-Advances in science and technology now provide scientific explanations for questions traditionally answered by religion, such as the origin of the universe and the causes of famine and disease. The ‘miracles’ of yesterday have become today’s scientific discoveries. The development of scientific knowledge and explanation tends to undermine religious belief.
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Disengagement-The growth of the welfare state has removed many of the tasks that used to be performed by religious institutions, such as the provision of education and financial aid in times of distress. This reduces the significance of religion in people’s lives.
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Mass media-particularly television, has replaced the church as the main source of authority and knowledge for many people. People are now more likely to form their opinions on the basis of what they read in the newspapers or watch on TV rather than what religion or what the church has too say.
Many writers have pointed out that secularisation has tended to be seen in terms of the decline of organised established churches in Western industrialised countries. However, if one looks at the world globally, then religion is as overwhelming and dominant a force as ever. As Berger comments “the world today with some exceptions is as furiously religious as it ever was in some places more so than ever”. Religious revival among Christians in the USA, Jews in Israel and Muslims throughout the world has gone unexplained by proponents of the secularisation thesis. Hervieu-Leger looks at how Islam is the fastest growing religion in Britain and how secularisation is merely a reorganisation of religion in modern society.
This concept will relate to my aim as a view of why some sociologists look to other explanations to disagree that secularisation is taking place.
Word Count-950
Methodology
Sociology is concerned with a wide range of issues in social life, the interests and concerns of sociologists are not different from those of most people in society. However, what makes the views of sociologists different is that they try to provide evidence to back up what they say.
That is why I must carry out a structured piece of research to back up my aim/hypothesis.
As a Positivist I have chosen to obtain my information by carrying out a questionnaire. Questionnaires involve primary data that has been collected by sociologists themselves, this set of data is expressed in the form of quantitative data. I will measure the data in numerical form and present it into graphs, pie charts and bar charts.
The questionnaire will include a printed list of questions to be filled in personally by the respondent (the person answering the questions) all respondents will be answering the same set of questions. My questionnaire will include both pre-coded questions and open-ended questions for example:
Q1-this is a pre-coded question it enables the respondent to circle the answer that I have provided in the form of two multiple answers.
Q10-this is an open-ended question because it enables the respondent to state their opinion and elaborate on their views by not have a pre-set choice of answers to select.
My questionnaire will be distributed to an even number of gender and a range of ages. This will enable me to get a fairly wide sample of research. I will gain information from different age groups and see if it coincides with my context; whereby the younger generation are least likely to attend a religious institution.
My research will involve array of advantages and disadvantages.
Advantages may be the fact that:
- Quantitative data can be analysed more scientifically and objectively than qualitative data
- Quantitative data is more reliable-each individual respondent answers the same questions in the same order, they are responding to the same stimuli. Differences in response should reflect real differences between respondents.
- It can be used to test hypotheses and theories (e.g.: Crewe used statistical data to check his theory that factors such as housing tenure had an influence on voting behaviour independent of social class)
- It can be a cheap and quick method compared to others.
Disadvantages may be the fact that:
- Respondents may interpret questions differently
- Questions are framed from the point of view of the researchers reality and this is likely to exclude responses which are relevant for the respondents but not requested by the researchers framing of the question
- Validity is reduced if respondents are unwilling or unable to give full or accurate replies to questions (lies) or forgetfulness
- Statistics may represent a tally of behaviour and events than the meanings behind behaviour
Practical Considerations may be:
- Data can be easily quantified and analysed with the assistance of computers
- Minimal researcher effects (personal involvement).
Ethical Considerations may be:
- Making sure all names and details are confidential
- Questions must not be leading, they should be straight to the point
Before I can actually go ahead with the sampling of questionnaires I must start with a pilot survey. I will distribute the pilot survey to five people and see what their views on my questions are. Having received their responses it will enable me to take my research further. In the pilot survey I have 10 questions but looking at it I think in my final questionnaire I should be asking more questions about examples of views on secularisation. I have chosen to sample 10 males and 10 females. Within those genders I have chosen to sample 4 under 16s, 4 teens, 4 twenties, 4 thirties, 4 over forties (2 males and 2 females within those age groups)
The questions I have selected to ask involve me wanting to know their general background; test their knowledge on a range of religious questions and find out their views and opinions on the issues and debates of the secularisation thesis. From this it will enable me to understand and categorise individuals and their knowledge based on their age.
Word Count-670
Pilot Survey
I am an A Level Sociology student. I am carrying out a survey to find out what your views on secularisation are (decline in religion). I would be most obliged if you would take part in this research.
All your answers will be confidential.
Please circle the appropriate answer. Thank You
1) Are you
Male Female
2) What age group do you fall under?
Under 16 16-19 20-24 25-29
30-34 35-39 40-44 45-49
Over 50
3) Do you believe in God?
Yes No
4) What is your religion?
Islam Christianity Sikhism
Hinduism Judaism Buddhism
Other (please state)
This question applies to those who are recommended to attend a religious institution (e.g.: men in Islam) If this doesn’t apply to you go to Q6…
5) How many times a week do you attend a religious institution?
(i.e.: mosque, church, temple, synagogue etc)
Never 1-2 3-4 5-6 Everyday
6) Do you pray at home? If No go to Q7
Yes No
If yes how many times a week?
1-2 3-4 5-6 Everyday
7) Below are a set of questions to test your religious knowledge… (Please circle one answer and remember all answers are strictly confidential)
i) Whom did God tell to build an ark?
David Adam Noah Jonah
ii) Which religion has the Koran as its sacred book?
Islam Christianity Buddhism Judaism
iii) Which religion celebrates Diwali?
Judaism Hinduism Christianity Buddhism
iv) Which is the holy book of the Sikh faith?
Torah Bible Guru Granth Psalms
8) How would you rate your religious belief in a scale of 1 to 10?
(1=lowest 10=highest ‘please mark a point’)
If you do not wish to answer this question please move to Q9
1 5 10
9) What are your views on religion on a hold? (i.e.: explain whether or not you see religion as a good or bad force for society)
10) Explain in your own words whether or not you believe there is a decline in religion…
Thank You for your co-operation
Questionnaire
I am an A Level Sociology student. I am carrying out a survey to find out what your views on secularisation are (decline in religion). I would be most obliged if you would take part in this research.
All your answers will be confidential.
Please circle the appropriate answer. Thank You
1) Are you
Male Female
2) What age group do you fall under?
Under 16 16-19 20-24 25-29
30-34 35-39 40-44 45-49
Over 50
3) Do you believe in God?
Yes No
4) What is your religion?
Islam Christianity Sikhism
Hinduism Judaism Buddhism
Other (please state)
5) Do you attend a religious institution? If No go to Q6
Yes (please state) No
If yes how many times a week?
1-2 3-4 5-6 Everyday
6) Do you pray at home? If No go to Q7
Yes No
If yes how many times a week?
1-2 3-4 5-6 Everyday
7) Below are a set of questions to test your religious knowledge… (Please circle one answer and remember all answers are strictly confidential)
i) Whom did God tell to build an ark?
David Adam Noah Jonah
ii) Which religion has the Koran as its sacred book?
Islam Christianity Buddhism Judaism
iii) Which religion celebrates Diwali?
Judaism Hinduism Christianity Buddhism
iv) Which is the holy book of the Sikh faith?
Torah Bible Guru Granth Psalms
8) How would you rate your religious belief on a scale of 1 to 10?
(1=lowest 5=highest ‘please mark a point’)
If you do not wish to answer this question please move to Q9
1 5 10
9) Bruce who is a sociologist has suggested by the year 2030 Christianity will be extinct in Britain what are your views towards this
10) What are your views on religion on a hold? (i.e.: explain whether or not you see religion as a good or bad force for society)
11) Do you think religion has lost its importance in today’s society?
Yes (please state why)
No (please state why)
12) Explain in your own words whether or not you believe there is a decline in religion…
Thank You for your co-operation
Evidence
Question 1
As you can see I decided to ask an even number of males and females. This will allow me to get an even number of responses from both genders Miller and Hoffman report that woman:
- Are more likely to express a greater interest in religion
- Have a stronger personal religious commitment
I found that men from ethnic minorities tend to attend a religious institution and do not pray as much at home whereas women from ethnic minorities who cannot attend religious institutions pray more at home.
Question 2
As you can see I decided to ask an even number of people with a range of ages. This will enable me to conclude whether or not Modood’s findings on ethnic minorities are true. He found that:
- In each ethnic group fewer second-generation than first-generation respondents said that religion was of personal importance to them, and fewer said they observed the various rules and requirements
- Most second-generation respondents did not regularly attend a place of religious worship and even those who said that religion were important wished to interpret their religious traditions and scriptures flexibly.
I have found out that nowadays the second-generation in the Muslim community are practising their religion more than any other ethnic religions. The responses I gained from them indicated as the days go by more and more of them are strengthening their faith and are more involved with religious talks and ceremonies. Like Badawi said Muslim girls are finding the religious covering liberating rather than oppressing.
Question 3
As you can see by the findings it shows that there is only a small minority of people who do not believe in God. That just goes to show that there may be a decline in Church attendance but that doesn’t mean there is a decline in belief. Like Davies emphasises “believing without belonging”.
Question 4
As you can see by the findings I distributed the questionnaires to a number of people with different religions. Amongst them 19 were from a religion. Having a range of people from different religions allows me to investigate each one separately finding out individual opinions.
Question 5
As you can see from the findings quite a lot of people attend a religious institution. Many of them were among the Muslim community and were mainly men as women do not attend mosques.
As you can see from the findings there is a range of people attending a religious institution. The two males who do attend a religious institution everyday were from the first-generation in the Muslim community. In this sense it may be evident that Modood’s findings of the first-generation indicate that they are more religious.
Question 6
As you can see from the findings quite a large minority of people pray at home. Many in fact are women from a range of religions. In this sense it is obvious that the concept of “believing without belonging” is true where privatised religiosity does relate to the statistics of church attendance. This assumes that you don’t have to attend a religious institution to test tour faith.
There is an even distribution of how many times a week people pray at home. Many in fact emphasise that some men attend a religious institution therefore there is less amount of praying taking place at home, whereas women from ethnic minorities mainly are at home therefore tend to pray a lot more at home. This goes to show that this indicates that women are not more religious than men in ethnic minorities it is merely an indication of practicality.
Question 7
It is clearly evident that many people may not be religious but still have a fair knowledge of religion. This test was just to see if people were aware of basic facts known in religion. The responses gained indicate that many people do have a high knowledge of many religions. The weakest one happened to be Q7 (iii) this is probably because Sikhism is not as high profile as the other religions are. In fact this just goes to show you don’t have to be religious in order to know everything.
Question 8
Throughout the investigation I noticed that many people who answered the questionnaire responded to this question honestly. It is clearly evident that no-one sees them as very religious. This maybe the fact that they believe they in no place to judge that or they are being truthful in the sense that no-one is perfect. A lot of people regarded themselves as being average, and that was responded from a range of religious backgrounds. Only the person who did not believe in God responded with a negative result.
Question 11
The responses to this question were interesting because the people who said “No” were all Muslims. An example of the response given was:
“No, I don’t think religion has lost its importance because many religions are growing faster than ever i.e.: Islam. “
This was just one of the responses but more or less all the responses were similar. This just goes to show that there is still hope in religion today especially amongst the majority of the Muslim community. It’s just as Hervieu-Leger said that religions like Islam are spreading all across the world.
Word Count-852
Evaluation
I think I went into reasonable depth whilst analysing my context items. I looked at and focused on a range of relevant sociological features, but I worked using headings and therefore if I noticed a feature that would not fit under a labelled heading, I would tend to ignore it. I feel my evidence was straight to the point and I supported and explained each point I made. I also referred to appropriate research. I read about each sociologist and picked out key points that were linked to my investigation. However, I think it could have been useful to look more thoroughly into how each sociologist conducted their research and when. This is because the research used may be out of date and the sociologist’s method of research may be different to mine. This could result in their findings to be unsuitable for my data analysis.
Bryan Wilson reported his findings in 1966. Therefore, his findings may not be applicable in today’s society as attitudes have changed towards religion.
I think in the future, I could look more deeply into the ways certain researchers conducted their investigations and then conduct mine in a similar way using a similar location and so on. My findings would then show whether or not these sociologist’s findings are in fact out of date or not.
My methodology had both strengths and weaknesses. I think the choice of investigation using questionnaires was suitable; because my questions related to my context items, therefore I was able to find out respondents views on the decline of religion. This ensured I would be analysing the lost ‘realistic’ data. However, having more Muslim participants in my questionnaire meant that I was unable to analyse a range of beliefs from various religions.
I could extend my investigation by looking at different variables/ I could interview professional clergy i.e.: Imam, priest, rabbi etc. For example, a priest can give his/her view to whether or not they believe religion will be extinct by the year 2030, and see what the Imam and Rabbi think about all the views of religion declining. This means that I would have got a series of opinions and this would have allowed me to analyse what individual in our society believe and what leaders of worship believe.
Nevertheless, looking at my questionnaire I should’ve given the respondents more choice when it came to open-ended questions. For example Q11 I stated yes/no I should’ve then given a choice of “don’t know”. This would have meant the respondents are in no pressure to answer this question.
Overall I believe the structure of my investigation has allowed me to come to a fair conclusion that:
Statistics can’t frame the fact that there are low levels of religiosity; individuals do not need to attend a place of worship to distinguish their belief. Even if there is a decline in Christianity this does not mean that there is a decline in religion on the whole. High profile religions like Islam are becoming widespread over the world.
Conclusion
In conclusion I believe to an extent my aim was correct in the state that we can’t rely on statistics to measure religiosity, and that there is a wide religiosity among the older generation in society. Nevertheless, it is clearly evident that this investigation has aroused many thoughts that there is no answer to whether or not religion is in decline. There are always two points of views to back up each argument.
Word Count-576
Bibliography
- Collins Sociology for A2-
Author-Stephen Moore
Dave Aiken
Steve Chapman
Published by-Harper Collins Publishers Limited 2002
- Internet-www.google.com-research on secularisation