COVID-19, Religion, and Survey Responses

Many studies have provided evidence that religious participation declined during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, a recent article published in Sociology of Religion (one of the leading journals that publishes social-scientific research on religion) shows that the purported decline may be due to a change in survey collection and not a change in religiosity.

The article is too long to read in its entirety, but you can skim it at the link above (use a computer from on campus or use the UCI VPN to access it). 

The gist of the paper is as follows. The General Social Survey (GSS), which is the most frequently used survey in religion research, changed its collection method during the pandemic from face-to-face interviews to online. This change in mode of data collection resulted unintentionally in a change in the types of people who agreed to participate in the survey. In particular, highly religious persons were less likely to participate in the new online format, and this resulted in a decline in the measured religious participation in the data from before the pandemic.

This finding teaches us an important specific lesson about research on religion and how we must always be cautious about the sources of data that we use. Researchers must strive to be aware of changes in the method of data collection when comparing different datasets.

It also tells us something important about American religion, namely, that American religion did not decline in the way that many people thought it did during the COVID-19 pandemic. In hindsight, it might not be surprising that religion did not decline as some researchers had concluded because people often turn to religion during difficult times. This paper provides the evidence to support the hunch.

Finally, it provides an important cautionary tale to future researchers who want to design religion surveys. Every survey mode has pros and cons, and it is important to be aware of those pros and cons when designing your survey.