Messy Methods in Researching Religion

Erscheinungsjahr 2025
ISBN: 978-0-19-968789-3
Verlag: Oxford University Press

Buch, Englisch, 416 Seiten, Format (B × H): 180 mm x 249 mm, Gewicht: 907 g

This unique book investigates the real-world complexities, challenges, and mistakes that are often encountered when researching religion, values, and culture. Featuring the reflections of researchers from across the social sciences and humanities, it offers vivid accounts of designing and executing both small-scale and much larger projects.

Some chapters describe in detail the process and rationale behind methodological decisions, including challenges, adaptations, and revisions. Others reveal how things went wrong in the research process, even past the point of recovery, and what was learned. There is reflection on wider conceptual, theoretical, and ethical debates about 'religion' and what they mean in practice.

In acknowledging the messiness of researching religion, the volume seeks to humanize and improve it. The honest reflections it contains will help researchers avoid some common mistakes and face others openly without losing heart.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Weitere Mitwirkende

Woodhead, Linda

Cadman, Louisa

Graham, Nicole

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Religionswissenschaft Religionswissenschaft Allgemein
• Interdisziplinäres Wissenschaften Wissenschaften: Forschung und Information Forschungsmethodik, Wissenschaftliche Ausstattung
• Geisteswissenschaften Religionswissenschaft Sonstige Religionen Sonstige Religionen: Leben & Brauch, Soziale Aspekte
• Sozialwissenschaften Soziologie | Soziale Arbeit Spezielle Soziologie Soziologie des Brauchtums und der Traditionen
• Geisteswissenschaften Religionswissenschaft Alternative Glaubensformen

Inhaltsverzeichnis

- TEN COMMON MESSES IN RESEARCHING RELIGION

- 1: Lori G. Beaman: RESEARCH METHODS BETWEEN LAW, SOCIOLOGY, AND RELIGION

- 2: Marion Bowman: LONG-TERM ETHNOLOGY AND THE SHADOWY IMPACT OF THE RESEARCHER

- 3: Louisa Cadman, Jennifer Lea, and Chris Philo: USING TIME-SPACE DIARIES AND INTERVIEWS TO RESEARCH EVERYDAY SPIRITUALITIES

- 4: Helen Cameron: THEOLOGICAL ACTION RESEARCH

- 5: Jeremy Carrette: POWER AND THE STUDY OF RELIGION

- 6: Rahmanara Chowdhury: INSIDER RESEARCH INTO ABUSE IN MUSLIM COMMUNITIES

- 7: Angela Connelly and Michael Hebbert: LEARNING FROM BUILDINGS

- 8: James C. Conroy and David Lundie: METHODOLOGICAL SYNERGIES IN RESEARCHING NESTED IDENTITY AND RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

- 9: Abby Day: RE-INTERVIEWING, AND THE RESEARCHER-PARTICIPANT RELATIONSHIP

- 10: Rosemary Dixon, Simon Dixon, Inga Jones, Kyle Roberts, and Richard Gartner: DIGITIZATION AND COLLABORATION IN THE STUDY OF RELIGIOUS HISTORY

- 11: Sophie Gilliat-Ray: ENCOUNTERING ETHICAL AND OTHER ISSUES WHEN SHADOWING MUSLIM CHAPLAINS

- 12: Ian N. Gregory, Niall A. Cunningham, and Ian Shuttleworth: USING GEOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION SYSTEMS TO UNDERSTAND RELIGIOUS CHANGE AND SECTARIAN CONFLICT IN NINETEENTH- AND TWENTIETH-CENTURY IRELAND

- 13: John Harper: INVESTIGATING MEDIEVAL RITUAL THROUGH LITURGICAL ENACTMENT

- 14: Adrian Harris: USING FOCUSING TECHNIQUES TO RESEARCH THE EMBODIED KNOWING OF ECO-PAGANS

- 15: Colette Harris: COMMUNITY-BASED APPROACHES FOR VIOLENCE REDUCTION AND SOCIAL CHANGE IN KADUNA, NIGERIA

- 16: Michael Keenan and Sarah-Jane Page: EXPLORING SEXUALITY AND RELIGION USING AN ONLINE QUESTIONNAIRE

- 17: Gordon Lynch: A PERSONAL JOURNEY FROM THE SEARCH FOR MEANING TO A SOCIOLOGY OF THE SACRED

- 18: Sara MacKian: USING STORIES TO EXPLORE THE EVERYDAY PLACE OF SPIRIT AGENCY

- 19: Nicola Madge and Peter J. Hemming: USING A SURVEY TO INVESTIGATE THE ROLE OF RELIGION IN YOUNG PEOPLE'S LIVES

- 20: David Morgan: RECOGNIZING JESUS: VISUALITY AND THE STUDY OF RELIGION

- 21: Peter Nynäs and Johnny Långstedt: NAVIGATING AMBIGUITIES IN INTERNATIONAL RESEARCH COLLABORATION

- 22: Elizabeth Olson and Giselle Vincett: RESEARCHING SPIRITUALITY WITH AND FOR VULNERABLE YOUNG PEOPLE

- 23: Elizabeth Poole and Teemu Taira: COMBINING METHODS IN A LONGITUDINAL STUDY OF RELIGION IN THE MEDIA

- 24: Melanie Prideaux: FAILING AT RESEARCH? TRYING TO ACCESS A GYPSY PENTECOSTAL COMMUNITY IN THE UK

- 25: Andrew Sayer: AN OUTSIDER LOOKING IN

- 26: Emma Tarlo: DEVELOPING 'MATERIAL' METHODS FOR THE STUDY OF DRESS AND RELIGION

- 27: Naomi Thompson: USING A NARRATIVE METHOD TO RESEARCH YOUNG PEOPLE'S RELIGIOUS ENGAGEMENT, PAST AND PRESENT

- 28: Amanda van Eck Duymaer van Twist and Sarah Harvey: THE CHALLENGES OF RESEARCHING AND PROVIDING INFORMATION ON 'CULTS' AND 'EXTREMISM'

- 29: Terhi Utriainen: LOOKING BACK AT AN INTERVIEW WITH AN ANGEL

- 30: Paul Weller: WHAT EVIDENCE ON WHOSE TERMS? POLICY-RELEVANT RELIGION OR BELIEF RESEARCH

- 31: Sarah White and Joe Devine: COMBINING METHODS (AND RESEARCHERS) TO INVESTIGATE RELIGION AND WELLBEING IN INDIA

- 32: John Wolffe: USING ARCHIVES AND INTERVIEWS TO LINK PAST AND PRESENT IN THE STUDY OF CONFLICT AND PEACE

Über Autor(innen)

Linda Woodhead studies religion, belief, and values in modern societies using a range of qualitative and quantitative methods. In addition to her academic work, Professor Woodhead is a commentator on religious and cultural issues on radio and television.

Louisa Cadman's research interests concern the social, cultural, and political geographies of (mental) health, with a subsequent interest in how health intersects with contemporary spirituality.

Nicole Graham undertakes research within the field of humour and religion, exploring questions of the body, gender, and ethics. She has written on feminist laughter, the emergence and potential of the field of humour and religion, the acceptability of laughter in the early Christian tradition, and the ethics of laughter during game-playing. She is also the Media Officer of the Humour and Religion Network.