Rels 205 Lecture 2.1 Research Methods for Studying Religion and Ritual.
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Rels 205 Lecture 2.1Research Methods for Studying
Religion and Ritual
Lecture Outline for Part One of Rels 205.01
Week 2Lecture 1 Ritual and the Study of ReligionLecture 2 Religious and Secular TraditionsWeek 3Lecture 1 Sacral SentimentsLecture 2 The meaning of mythWeek 4Lecture 1 Arguments for Belief in GodLecture 2 Traditional ChristianityWeek 5Lecture 1 Changing WorldviewsLecture 2 ReviewWeek 6 Reading WeekWeek 7Lecture 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
Religion
history
philosophy psychology
social
Practical methods
History
Philosophy (logic)
Social:anthropology/sociology
Religion
Common valid methodsInterdisciplinary 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 = non-Western societiesSociology = Western societies
Today:Anthropology = qualitative methodsSociology = 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 researchElda 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 historyinterviews
Surveyresearch
Participantobservation
Pitfalls
http://www.ucalgary.ca/~hexham/study/plag.html
http://www.ucalgary.ca/~hexham/study/T-2.html
http://www.ucalgary.ca/~hexham/study/T-1.html
Bias
Faulty references
Plagiarism
“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 PassageA 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 ProcessChicago, Aldine Publishing, 1969
Arnold van Gennep, Rites of Passage
Rites of Passage illustrated
Original state Liminality New state
Trauma
Mary Douglas (1921-2007)
Purity and Danger (1966)
“You shall be Holy; for I the Lordyour 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 StructureGrid
Group
Ridged rulese.g. Army
No rules or personal constraints.e.g. Californian society
Personal powere.g. Patriarchal societyAbraham: Gen. 12-50
Rules with personalinfluences.e.g. Medieval Kingship
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