Public Agenda Online: For Goodness' Sake

Public Agenda Online

For Goodness' Sake: Why So Many Americans Want Religion to Play a Greater Role in Public Life

Methodology

For Goodness' Sake is based on a nationwide telephone survey of 1,507 adults aged 18 years or older, plus oversamples of 208 nonreligious and 200 Jewish adults, and a nationwide mail survey of 219 journalists, 286 Christian leaders and 254 elected officials. The surveys were preceded by seven focus groups conducted in sites across the country, as well as consultations with experts on the topic of religion and public life.

The Survey of the General Public
A total of 1,507 telephone interviews with adult members of the general public were conducted between November 4 and November 25, 2000. The interviews averaged approximately 30 minutes in length. The interviews were conducted using a random sample of households and a standard, random-digit-dialing technology whereby every household in the 48 contiguous states had an equal chance of being contacted, including those with unlisted numbers. The margin of error for the 1,507 members of the general public is +/- 3 percentage points; the margin of error is higher in comparisons of percentages across subgroups.

Interviews were conducted with 208 nonreligious adults. Screening questions were asked to ensure that only those who met the definition of nonreligious were included in the final nonreligious sample. "Nonreligious" respondents included those who: a) responded "atheist" or "agnostic"; or b) responded "none/no religion" when asked their religious preference and said they "never" attend religious services. Of the 208 nonreligious respondents, 107 were culled from the general public sample and 101 from a random oversample.

Interviews were also conducted with 200 Jewish adults. Jewish respondents included those who a) responded "Jewish" when asked for their religious preference; or b) responded "none/no religion" but also indicated that at least one of their parents was Jewish. A total of 28 Jewish respondents were culled from the general public sample; 28 from pre-screened samples where respondents self-identified as Jewish; and 144 from a stratified sample that targeted the top ten Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSA's) by Jewish population. The geographic distribution of Jewish respondents in the oversample closely matches the distribution of Jews in the U.S. population.

The Mail Survey
A leadership questionnaire was mailed on October 16, 2000 to the following groups: a) 1,400 religious heads of local churches and congregations with more than 150 members; b) 2,000 elected officials, including 1,000 state senators and 1,000 mayors of cities with populations of 30,000 or more; c) 2,100 journalists, including newspaper editors-in-chief and news editors, and news-related television and radio producers and news directors. A reminder postcard was sent out on October 23, followed by a second mailing of the questionnaire on October 31. All responses received through November 13 were included in the final results. The process netted responses from 219 journalists, 286 religious leaders (virtually all are Christian) and 254 elected officials. The response rate for religious leaders was 20%, for elected officials 13%, and for journalists 10%.

Samples were supplied by Religious Data Services, the United States Conference of Mayors, the National Conference of State Legislatures and Burrelle's 2000 Media Directory.

The Questionnaires
The questionnaires were designed by Public Agenda, and all interpretation of the data reflected in this report was done by Public Agenda. As in all surveys, question order effects and other non-sampling sources of error can sometimes affect results. Steps were taken to minimize these, including extensively pre-testing the survey instruments and randomizing the order in which some questions were asked.

Both the telephone and mail surveys were fielded by Robinson and Muenster Associates, Inc., of Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

The Focus Groups
Focus groups allow for an in-depth, qualitative exploration of the dynamics underlying the public's attitudes toward complex issues. Insights from these groups were important to the survey design, and quotes were drawn from them to give voice to attitudes captured statistically through the survey interviews.

A total of seven focus groups were conducted in the spring of 2000 in six cities: Old Bridge, New Jersey (mixed general public); Cincinnati, Ohio (mixed general public); Long Island, New York (Jews); Birmingham, Alabama (one group of evangelical Christians and another of African American Christians); Albuquerque, New Mexico (white and Hispanic Catholics); and Albany, California (mixed general public and nonreligious people). Focus group quotes are identified using participants' home state.

Sponsors
Funding for this project was provided by The Pew Charitable Trusts, in conjunction with the establishment of the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life.