Methodological problems of religious diversity research

Abstract

This article is devoted to the analysis of the phenomenon of religious diversity as a subject of sociological research. It is shown that numerous theoretical and empirical studies of religious diversity in different countries have not been able to reach the level of analysis of the unique configuration of the general population of religious organisations operating on their territory. The significance of such an analysis for the sociology of religion is substantiated. The dependence of some areas of sociological analysis of religion on the successful study of the totality of different religious organisations that form the basis of religious diversity in the country is emphasised. A number of methodological problems arising from the empirical analysis of religious diversity and caused by the specifics of new religious movements are identified. Particular attention is paid to the analysis of problems in the area of conceptual apparatus, the organisation of the collection of relevant information on different information platforms and the identification of different types of new religious movements documents. Special attention is focused on the introduction into scientific circulation of information about previously unexplored new religious movements. It is shown that there is no provably effective methodology for studying religious diversity in the sociology of religion, but its development inevitably implies the resolution of most of the methodological problems described in the article. It is argued that the study of religious diversity belongs in the sociology of religion to the group of the most complex longitudinal studies with significant heuristic potential.