Transcript 205-2-1 Research Methods for Studying Religion-c

Rels 205 Lecture 2.1
Research Methods for Studying
Religion and Ritual
Lecture Outline for Part One of Rels 205.01
Week 2
Lecture 1 Ritual and the Study of Religion
Lecture 2 Religious and Secular Traditions
Week 3
Lecture 1 Sacral Sentiments
Lecture 2 The meaning of myth
Week 4
Lecture 1 Arguments for Belief in God
Lecture 2 Traditional Christianity
Week 5
Lecture 1 Changing Worldviews
Lecture 2 Review
Week 6 Reading Week
Week 7
Lecture 1 First in class test
Studying Religion
Religious Studies
Discipline or area?
Problem of inter-disciplinary research
Jack of all trades master of none
Marx on Prodhon
In France where philosophy in king
they call him an economist, in
Germany, where economics is King,
they call him a philosopher, I say he
is neither.
Pierre Joseph Prodhon
(1809-1865)
Ninian Smart on methods
social
philosophy
Religion
history
psychology
Practical methods
Philosophy (logic)
Social:
anthropology/
sociology
History
Common valid methods
Interdisciplinary approach
Participant observation
Life history interviews
Random sample survey research
Historical research
Archival research
Analysis of texts
Content analysis of literature
Anthropology – Sociology
Originally:
Anthropology =
Sociology
=
non-Western societies
Western societies
Today:
Anthropology =
Sociology
=
qualitative methods
quantitative methods
Anthropological methods
Participant observation
Life history interviews
Topical interviews
Survey research
Sociological methods
Survey research
Participant observation
Life history interviews
Topical interviews
Flawed Methods
Use of proof texts
Reliance on testimony of ex-members
Selective survey research
Uni-disciplinary approach
Reliance on testimony
of ex-members
Selective survey research
Elda Susan Morran and Lawrence Schlemmer,
Faith for the Fearful?,
Center for Applied Social Sciences, Durban, 1984.
Selective survey research
Elda Susan Morran and Lawrence Schlemmer,
Faith for the Fearful?,
Center for Applied Social Sciences, Durban, 1984.
Faith for the Fearful
Snowball sample. They said only 5% of
Church members were Blacks when
over 60% were Black one year later.
Made no distinction between language
Groups. Compared working class
Afrikaners with English elite.
Use of proof texts
“Judas went out and hanged himself”
Luke 27.5
“Go thou and do likewise”
Luke 10.37
Uni-Disciplinary
Religion
history
Catholics do not eat meat on Fridays.
Therefore, meat sales in the Italian areas of
Chicago are significantly reduced on Fridays.
Triangulation
No one method is reliable. Therefore more than one method
is needed. Results must be checked against other results.
Life history
interviews
Participant
observation
Survey
research
Pitfalls
Bias
http://www.ucalgary.ca/~hexham/study/plag.html
Faulty references
http://www.ucalgary.ca/~hexham/study/T-2.html
Plagiarism
http://www.ucalgary.ca/~hexham/study/T-1.html
“A set of institutionalized rituals …”
Ritual
Repetitive behaviour, fixed by
tradition, that signifies a meaning
or reality beyond the act itself.
Cultural Adaption – Modernizing Rituals
Religious Rituals
Victor Turner (1920-1983)
Rites of Passage
A social transition from one stage
of life to another.
e.g. birth, puberty, marriage, birth, divorce,
re-marriage, old age, death .
Trauma and life-crises
Source for Rites of Passage
Victor Turner The Ritual Process
Chicago, Aldine Publishing, 1969
Arnold van Gennep, Rites of Passage
Rites of Passage illustrated
Original state
Liminality
Trauma
New state
Mary Douglas (1921-2007)
Purity and Danger (1966)
“You shall be Holy; for I the Lord
your God am holy.”
Leviticus 19:2
Natural Symbols (1970)
Vatican II (1962-1965)
and “the bog Irish”
Perceived Constraints
What prevents you from doing
whatever you want?
Constraints of Group and Grid
Grid = rules
Group = Personal
Social Structure
Grid
Ridged rules
e.g. Army
No rules or personal
constraints.
e.g. Californian society
Rules with personal
influences.
e.g. Medieval Kingship
Personal power
e.g. Patriarchal society
Abraham: Gen. 12-50
Group