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Milieus and Mixed Methods

Describing and Explaining Religion and Secularity in Switzerland

Milieus und Mixed Methods

Beschreiben und erklären von Religion und Säkularität in der Schweiz

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Abstract

In the literature on religion and secularity, scholars often use mono-method strategies, either quantitative or qualitative, in order to identify broad social groups – “milieus” or “social aggregates” and thus gain better understanding of the great diversity of religious beliefs and practices in a given population. This paper identifies different validity problems of such studies and claims that mixed methods may be used in order to better address these problems. By combining representative surveys with semi-standardized interviews, large scale groups (e. g. milieus) can be described and some of their inner workings explained in a more valid way. The article shows the steps of such a mixed methods research strategy, arguing for (a) a common central question in a realist philosophical framework (b) nested qualitative and quantitative samples with relatively large n on the qualitative side, (c) an integrated data collection on the level of items and leading questions, (d) abductive-iterative data analysis, and (e) an addressing of validity issues with the help of mixed methods. Two nested mixed methods studies are used to exemplify these research strategies: one on religion and spirituality in Switzerland and one on the “evangelical milieu” in Switzerland.

Zusammenfassung

In der Literatur über Religion und Säkularität verwenden Wissenschaftler häufig mono-methodische Strategien, entweder quantitativ oder qualitativ, um große soziale Gruppen, Milieus oder soziale Aggregate, zu identifizieren und so ein besseres Verständnis der großen Vielfalt religiöser Glaubensüberzeugungen und Praktiken in einer bestimmten Population zu erlangen. Dieser Beitrag identifiziert verschiedene Validitätsprobleme solcher Studien und zeigt, dass Mixed Methods solche Probleme besser lösen kann. Indem man repräsentative Surveys und semi-standardisierte Interviews kombiniert, können große soziale Gruppen (z. B. Milieus) mit höherer Validität beschrieben und in ihrer internen Wirkungsweise erklärt werden. Der Artikel zeigt die Schritte einer solchen Mixed-Methods-Forschungsstrategie auf und empfiehlt (a) eine gemeinsame Forschungsfrage in einem durch den philosophischen Realismus informierten Rahmen, (b) ineinander eingebettete quantitative und qualitative Samples mit relativ hoher Fallzahl auf der qualitativen Seite, (c) eine integrierte Datenerhebung auf der Ebene der Items und der qualitativen Leitfragen, (d) abduktiv-iterative Datenanalyse und (e) eine Reflexion auf Validitätsprobleme mit Hilfe von Mixed Methods. Zwei ineinander eingebettete Mixed-Methods-Studien werden verwendet, um diese Forschungsstrategien zu illustrieren: eine zu Religion und Spiritualität in der Schweiz und eine über das „evangelikale Milieu“ in der Schweiz.

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Notes

  1. We define religiosity as individual beliefs, practices and experiences linked to a or several religion(s). A religion is a cultural system of symbols that permits to solve problems of meaning and contingency by alluding to a higher or transcendent world. We define spirituality as individual beliefs, practices and experiences linked to one or several religion(s), ideologies or therapies if these religion(s), therapies or ideologies promote or include (a) the importance of the individual and his or her quest for meaning, (b) the development of the individual and his faculties, (c) the existence of a higher or transcendent world with which individuals may connect in order to find meaning and self-development. See for other definitions of religiosity and spirituality: Giordan (2007), Höllinger and Tripold (2012, p. 35 f.), Siegers (2014, p. 21 ff.), Streib and Hood (2013).

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Acknowledgements

I thank Jean-Philippe Antonietti for help with statistical questions and Nina Baur, Udo Kelle and Udo Kuckartz for valuable comments on earlier versions of this paper.

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  1. Institut de sciences sociales des religions contemporaines Anthropole, University of Lausanne, 1015, Lausanne, Switzerland

    Jörg Stolz

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Stolz, J. Milieus and Mixed Methods. Köln Z Soziol 69 (Suppl 2), 361–386 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11577-017-0463-0

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