Abstract
The sociology of religion, like the discipline of sociology at large, attempts to provide insights into the levels and intensity of religious patterns or analyzes their determinants by means of quantitative research. This chapter describes and seeks to account for facet theory and its basic principles, and to apply two of its major methods - Smallest Space Analysis (SSA) and Partial Order Scalogram (Structuple) Analysis with Base Coordinates (POSAC) - in the specific context of the sociology of religion. The author makes use of data from the 2007 U.S. Religious Landscape Survey, carried out by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life. The study is comparative focusing on seven major American religious groups: Evangelical Protestants, Mainline Protestants, Historical Black Protestants, Catholics, Mormons, Jews, and Muslims. Finally, the chapter summarizes the findings and discusses the significance of facet theory for behavioral research into the sociology of religion. Keywords:American religious groups; facet theory; POSAC; smallest space analysis (SSA); sociology; United States
Published Version
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