OCR A-Level Sociology H580
Introducing Socialisation, Culture and Identity
Families and RelationshipsComponent 01
Youth SubculturesComponent 01
MediaComponent 01
Research Methods and Researching Social Inequalities
Understanding Social Inequalities
Globalisation and the Digital Social World
Crime and DevianceComponent 03
EducationComponent 03
Religion, Belief and FaithComponent 03
Religion, Belief and Faith
Measuring religiosity and believing without belonging
- 2 things to know
- Component 03
Overview
Recall questions on religiosity and the problems of measuring it through attitude surveys and attendance statistics, Davie's believing without belonging and vicarious religion, Voas and Crockett's challenge, belonging without believing, and why religiosity is hard to compare between faiths.
What you need to know
Answer each one before you reveal it.
Give one problem with measuring religious belief through attitude surveys.
Questions from this subtopic
Each one with the model answer underneath.
- 1
Define religiosity.
Model answer
The extent and depth of an individual's or group's religious commitment, covering belief, practice, experience and knowledge rather than nominal affiliation alone.
- 2
Give one problem with measuring religious belief through attitude surveys.
Model answer
Answers are highly sensitive to how the question is worded, so small changes in phrasing produce very different estimates of belief.
- 3
Give one advantage and one disadvantage of using attendance statistics to measure religiosity.
Model answer
They give a consistent behavioural record that can be tracked over time, but they reveal nothing about the depth or sincerity of the belief behind attendance.
- 4
What did Davie mean by believing without belonging?
Model answer
That many people in Britain retain religious beliefs privately while no longer attending services or holding formal membership of an organisation.
- 5
Explain Davie's concept of vicarious religion.
Model answer
A small active minority practises religion on behalf of a much larger number who approve of it and draw on it at moments of crisis or national significance.
- 6
How did Voas and Crockett challenge the idea of believing without belonging?
Model answer
They argued survey evidence shows belief and belonging have declined together, so private belief is not surviving the fall in membership.
Other ways to work this
The same content, four other ways.
What is inside Levo
Six ways to work the same material.
Every question in Religion, Belief and Faith, on a schedule.
Attempt a question from memory, write the correct version, then attempt it again. Levo records the jump between your first attempt and your last, and brings each question back on the day you are due to forget it.
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