Beyond Lenski: A Critical Review of Recent "Protestant Ethic" Research

Abstract

What is the result of the research stimulated by Lenski's The Religious Factor? This research testing hypotheses derived from Weber's Protestant Ethic thesis focused on ProtestantCatholic differentials in social status and mobility, in achievement motivation, and in educational and scientific performance. Most of the data were nonsupportive of, or contradictory to, the hypotheses derived from the Weber thesis. None of the research was adequate to the task of causal inference which is required by the logic of the hypotheses. Moreover, the independent variable-differences in religious belief-was not adequately operationalized. Finally, the researchers are criticized for the simplistic derivation of poor hypotheses from the analytically rich work of Weber.