How Did America's Religious Life Change In This Era

Religious Diversity and Change in American Social Networks: How Our Social Connections Shape Religious Beliefs and Beliefs

Findings from the American National Social Network Survey

December 15, 2020 |

A new national survey released this past fall explored the graphic symbol and composition of our immediate social networks. The American National Social Network Survey introduced an egoistic network design that describes the racial, religious, and political dimensions of American social relationships. This extensive battery of questions required respondents to identify members of their cadre social network—people with whom they "discussed important personal matters and concerns"—and provide information nigh their personal characteristics and background, such every bit their education level, gender, historic period, race and ethnicity, political orientation, and religion.

Based on this unique data, we released a written report that found widespread racial segregation amongst Americans' personal networks, despite growing racial and ethnic diversity in the United states of america. Now, a new analysis explores the caste to which Americans' religious networks are composed largely of those with similar beliefs and affiliations or those that are more diverse. It as well explores how religious diversity among our close personal relationships serves to structure religious behavior and belief.

Religious Diverseness and Personal Connections

The US is undergoing a profound demographic change that is reshaping the limerick and character of American religious identity. A large office of this change is due to the ascent of religiously unaffiliated Americans who now make up more than than one-quarter (26 pct) of the adult population.[ane] But not-Christian communities, which include Buddhists, Hindus, Jews, and Muslims, are growing too. White Christians have experienced pronounced declines over the by several decades, while American Catholics have experienced major shifts in ethnic limerick because of immigration from Latin America.

The growing religious diverseness in the US is significantly affecting American culture and religious life. Recent inquiry has shown that rates of religious intermarriage are increasing amongst newly married couples. A written report by the Pew Enquiry Heart finds that among couples married between 2010 and 2014, nearly iv in 10 have a spouse with a unlike religious background.[2] The religious composition and social context varies considerably by generation. Among young adults (historic period 18 to 29), the well-nigh common religious identity today is none; more than one in three (34 percent) immature adults are religiously unaffiliated.

The degree of religious diversity in the Us is as well reflected in Americans' core social networks. Few religious Americans count simply members of their religious tradition as function of their immediate social circumvolve. But there are of import differences beyond traditions. White evangelical Protestants' religious networks are lxxx percent Protestant, while black Protestants' networks are similarly composed primarily of other Protestants (82 percent). Sixty-9 percentage of white mainline Protestants' networks are Protestant. Religious homogeneity is weaker among Catholics. Fifty-viii percentage of Catholic social networks are Catholic, while half of non-Christian networks are composed of members of non-Christian religions.[3]

Despite testify of self-sorting by religious affiliation, there is significant diversity amongst Americans' religious networks, but this varies considerably across traditions. Ii-thirds (67 percent) of black Protestants and more than six in ten (62 percent) white evangelical Protestants report having social networks that include but other Protestants.[four] Members of other religious traditions report greater levels of multifariousness in their immediate social circles. Only 46 percent of white mainline Protestants say their social networks include merely other Protestants. Among Catholics, 39 percent say their core social network is composed exclusively of other Catholics. 30-six per centum of Americans who vest to non-Christian religious traditions report that their network includes only people who are similarly members of non-Christian traditions, while 29 percent of unaffiliated Americans have social networks made upwardly entirely of people who are besides unaffiliated.

More than Americans Have Close Connections with Someone Who Is Religiously Unaffiliated

As more Americans written report having no religious affiliation, the percent of the public who report having a shut contact who is unaffiliated has increased. Overall, 42 percentage of Americans have a close social connection with someone who is religiously unaffiliated. There are important differences across religious traditions and denominations, but Americans accept more close relationships with those who are unaffiliated than ever before. More one in four (27 pct) white Protestants—including 37 percent of white mainline Protestants and 23 percent of white evangelical Protestants—and about ane-quarter (28 percent) of Catholics written report having someone who is unaffiliated in their immediate social circle. Only 16 pct of black Protestants accept a social network that includes someone who is unaffiliated. Notably, well-nigh eight in ten (79 percent) of Americans who are unaffiliated have someone who shares their lack of religious identity in their social network.

Roughly a decade and a half before, many fewer Americans reported having a religiously unaffiliated member of their core social network.[v] In 2004, only 18 percentage of the public reported having a close social connectedness to someone who is religiously unaffiliated. Again, at that place were meaning differences by religious affiliation. Well-nigh one in 10 white Protestants (12 percent) and Catholics (13 percent) had an unaffiliated social connection.[6] Notably, over half (56 percent) of unaffiliated Americans in 2004 said they had at least ane member of their social network who is also unaffiliated.

The Disappearing Social Benefit of Religious Participation?

By research has shown that regular participation in worship services is strongly associated with higher rates of sociability, borough interest, and political appointment.[vii] But the social benefits of regular religious participation may be disappearing or more than limited than previously thought. Americans who are involved in religious communities practise not report having more than extensive social networks than those who are not. Americans who attend religious services at to the lowest degree one time a week accept similarly sized social networks as those who seldom or never attend. Seventeen pct of Americans who attend services once a week or more ofttimes report having no shut social ties, while an identical number (18 percent) of those who seldom or never nourish also report having no immediate social connection. Still, Americans who regularly attend religious services are slightly more than likely to accept social networks with at to the lowest degree half dozen members (29 percent vs. 25 percent).

There are also few differences between Americans of different religious traditions and those who do not claim whatever religious affiliation. Religiously unaffiliated Americans (15 percent) are non any more likely to report having no close social contacts than are white evangelical Protestants (16 percent), white mainline Protestants (16 percent), Catholics (17 percent), or members of non-Christian religious traditions (17 percent). And Americans who place with a particular religious tradition do not take larger social networks than those who are unaffiliated do. Interestingly, the social network size of religiously unaffiliated Americans and white evangelical Protestants is nearly indistinguishable.

Social Influence and Religious Beliefs and Beliefs

Belief in God

Belief in God has been amid the almost stable measures of religious belief, behavior, or identity in the US public. Gallup has tracked belief in God for more than than lxx years and found meaning stability even equally the U.s.a. has experienced social upheaval and demographic shifts and abased many traditional cultural values.[eight] Most nine in 10 (87 percent) Americans written report they believe in God when offered a single binary question. Despite the apparent consistency in belief over time, Americans limited considerable uncertainty well-nigh this primal religious belief.[9] A new version of this measure, requiring respondents to limited their relative belief or disbelief in God along a 10-point scale, uncovers pregnant feelings of doubt about God's existence among those who believe and those who do not.[10]

Overall, more than half (53 pct) of Americans report they believe in God without any doubts at all. Conversely, 6 percent of Americans say they do not believe in God and express no uncertainty in their belief. More than than 4 in ten (41 percent) Americans express at least some incertitude about their conventionalities in God. Well-nigh 1 in 10 (11 per centum) Americans express some degree of disbelief in God but remain at to the lowest degree somewhat unsure. 19 percent of Americans are inclined to believe in God but are somewhat less than completely certain in their belief. 11 percent of Americans written report being completely uncertain in their views on God—locating themselves in the verbal middle betwixt certain belief and atheism.

Certainty of Religious Belief Varies Considerably Across Religious Traditions

More than eight in x white evangelical Protestants (87 per centum) and black Protestants (83 percent) say they are admittedly certain God exists (Figure 3). A majority (59 per centum) of Catholics report they take no doubts almost their belief in God. Simply half (50 percent) of white mainline Protestants limited consummate certainty in God's beingness. Religiously unaffiliated Americans differ starkly from most major religious traditions in the lack of religious certainty they express. But 13 pct say they are sure in their belief in God. A significantly larger number (22 percent) say they are completely confident in their atheism. The bulk of religiously unaffiliated Americans express some amount of dubiety with their belief in God.

Nevertheless, in that location are of import differences amongst religiously unaffiliated Americans between those who identify every bit "atheist," "doubter," and "zippo in particular." More than six in 10 (61 percent) atheists report existence absolutely sure they do non believe in God, while only 10 percent of agnostics and those who are nothing in detail say the same.

Conventionalities in God and Personal Morality

Today, most Americans say it is not necessary for a person to believe in God to be moral and have good values, a remarkable shift in recent years. Close to half-dozen in 10 (59 pct) Americans say a belief in God is not a precondition to being moral and having skillful values. Forty-one percentage of the public say a belief in God is essential.

Views nearly the human relationship between existence moral and belief in God vary considerably across religious traditions. A majority of black Protestants (65 percentage), white evangelical Protestants (61 percent), and Hispanic Catholics (55 percent) say a belief in God is an important office of being moral. Less than one-half of white Catholics (43 percentage), white mainline Protestants (38 percent), members of non-Christian traditions (34 percent), and unaffiliated Americans (13 percent) say information technology is necessary to believe in God to be moral. Eighty-seven percentage of unaffiliated Americans disagree that belief in God is a requirement for moral behavior, including roughly 3-quarters (74 percent) who strongly decline this idea.

The Social Dimension of Religious Belief

Religious Americans whose immediate social circle includes members of other faiths, or none at all, express less certainty about their own religious beliefs. Conversely, Americans who have less religiously diverse social networks report having fewer doubts about their belief in God. This blueprint is remarkably consequent across religious traditions.

Two-thirds (67 percent) of Catholics whose social network includes merely other Catholics say they believe in God without any doubts. Catholics whose social network includes members of other faiths or none at all are less certain of their belief; 55 percent say they are completely sure. Similarly, while a majority (56 percent) of white mainline Protestants with social networks that include just other Protestants say they believe in God without any doubts, less than half (43 pct) of those with diverse networks limited this level of confidence in their belief. The gap among white evangelical Protestants is considerably smaller. Eighty-9 percent of white evangelical Protestants whose social network is sectional to Protestants say they believe in God without any doubts, compared to 81 per centum of those whose networks include members of other religious traditions or those who exercise not belong to any tradition.

Religious Americans who have a close contact who is unaffiliated limited much less certainty in their conventionalities in God. Well-nigh two-thirds (65 percent) of Catholics whose firsthand social circle does not include someone who is unaffiliated say they are completely sure in their belief in God. In dissimilarity, 36 percent of Catholics who have at least one fellow member of their inner circle who is unaffiliated express this level of confidence in their belief.

A similar pattern is evident among white mainline Protestants. Those with an unaffiliated member of their network are less likely to say they are certain in their conventionalities in God (55 percent vs. 36 percent). Religious doubts are likewise more common among white evangelical Protestants with close personal contacts with people who are unaffiliated. Eighty-9 percent of white evangelicals whose cadre social network includes no unaffiliated members say they are certain in their conventionalities about God, compared to 76 percent who take a shut relationship with someone who is unaffiliated.

Perspectives about the relationship between morality and belief in God vary between those with close ties with someone who is religiously unaffiliated, a pattern largely consistent across religious traditions. A majority (63 percent) of white evangelical Protestants whose immediate social circle does not include someone who is unaffiliated say assertive in God is a necessary precondition to beingness moral. In dissimilarity, this view is held past less than one-half (48 percent) of those who accept at to the lowest degree one unaffiliated social connexion. Half (50 percent) of Catholics whose cadre social network does not include someone who is unaffiliated say belief in God is essential for beingness moral, while only 33 percent of those who have such a connexion express this view. Finally, white mainline Protestants who lack a social connectedness with someone who is unaffiliated are more than likely to say believing in God is required to be moral and accept adept values than those who do (42 percent vs. 27 percent).

Traditionalist vs. Modern Approach to Religious Worship and Conventionalities

Religious Americans are divided over whether their religious tradition should preserve traditional beliefs and practices or adapt to changing societal norms and beliefs. Close to one-half (47 percent) of Americans who vest to a specific religious tradition say their religion should work to preserve traditional religious practices and beliefs. 30-eight percent say it should adjust in certain aspects due to changing circumstances in society, while 14 percent say their religion should fully prefer mod beliefs and practices. Notably, interest in altering religious beliefs and approaches to worship has not changed much over the past decade. In 2008, 44 percent of religious Americans said they would prefer their denomination to preserve traditional practices and behavior, while 35 percent said it should brand some changes. Only 12 percent supported adopting modern behavior and practices.[11]

There are modest differences betwixt generations. Seniors (age 65 or older) are more likely to say their denomination or tradition should preserve traditional behavior and practices than are immature adults (48 percent vs. 38 percent, respectively). Young adults are about twice as likely equally seniors are to say their religion should adopt modern beliefs and practices (17 percent vs. nine percent).

Religious Americans whose close social contacts reflect their own religious affiliation express much more than interest in retaining their traditional beliefs and practices than those with more diverse religious networks do. More than four in 10 (42 percentage) Catholics whose cadre social networks include merely other Catholics say the church should preserve traditional beliefs and practices. Less than one-third (31 percent) of Catholics with a more diverse religious social circle express this view. In that location is a comparable gap among white mainline Protestants. Forty-four pct of white mainline Protestants whose close social ties include merely other Protestants say their church or denomination should go on to embrace traditional teachings and practices, a view shared by 32 percent of those with more various social connections. White evangelical Protestants with homogeneous religious networks are more inclined to support maintaining traditional approaches to their organized religion than are those with more diverse social ties (76 percent vs. 69 percent).

Discussing Faith with Family Members and Friends

Americans are divided over whether it is better to discuss religious beliefs and ideas with family members and friends who practice not share the same perspective. Close to half (46 per centum) of Americans say it is improve to talk almost religious differences to find mutual footing, while more than than half (52 percent) say it is ameliorate to avoid talking about these differences considering doing so usually makes things worse.

Having a diverse religious network does non increase the ambition for having a religiously focused give-and-take. Americans with a uniform religious network are more probable than are those with a diverse network to say it is better to discuss religious differences with friends and family (52 pct vs. 41 percent). However, views vary dramatically past religious tradition. White mainline Protestants with diverse social networks are much less likely to endorse interreligious discussion than are those with uniform social circles (42 percent vs. 62 percent). Notably, white evangelical Protestants and Catholics express virtually identical opinions regardless of the composition of their social network.

Invitations to Attend Worship Service

Being asked to attend a worship service is not a mutual experience for most Americans. Less than half (47 percent) of Americans report beingness invited to attend a religious service in the by 12 months, and but 23 pct say they received an invitation in the past month. A majority (54 percent) of Americans say they have non been asked to participate in a religious service in the past 12 months or have never been asked.

In that location is a strong relationship between existence asked to participate in religious services and worship attendance. Two-thirds (67 percent) of Americans who take been asked to attend services in the past calendar week written report attending at to the lowest degree weekly or more than frequently. In contrast, merely 14 percent who have never been asked to attend report they go at least weekly. Nearly half (47 per centum) of Americans who have never been asked say they never go.

Americans with religiously diverse social networks report they are less likely to receive invitations to attend worship services. Only eighteen percent of Americans who accept a diverse religious social circle say they were encouraged to attend a religious service in the past month, while roughly one-third (32 per centum) of those whose religious networks are compatible report receiving such an invitation. Notwithstanding, there is one exception to this general pattern. Religiously unaffiliated Americans with various networks are more likely to be asked to participate in a worship service. Less than one-half (46 percent) of unaffiliated Americans with social networks that include merely other unaffiliated people say they have always received an invitation to attend, while 71 percent of those with diverse networks report having this experience.

The invitation discrepancy betwixt those with diverse and homogeneous religious networks may explicate the sharp division in patterns of religious attendance. Americans with homogeneous social networks are much more likely to nourish religious services regularly. But about one in five (21 percent) Americans with various religious networks study attention services weekly or more frequently, compared to 37 per centum of those with uniform social network. A bulk (58 percent) of those with diverse social networks say they seldom or never attend services.

Religious Bigotry and Being a Religious Minority in the United states of america

Christians are much more than likely to say it has get more hard to live in the US as a Christian than to say it has become easier, but most say things take non really inverse much. White evangelical Protestants are unique amid Christians in assertive information technology is more difficult to be a Christian in the U.s. today. A majority (54 pct) of white evangelical Protestants say information technology has become more difficult, while simply half-dozen percent say information technology has gotten easier. A bulk of white mainline Protestants (57 percent), white Catholics (57 percent), black Protestants (61 percentage), and Hispanic Catholics (68 percent) say it has not gotten easier or has gotten more difficult to live in the US as a Christian.

Perceptions about life in the US equally a Christians are filtered through ideology. Conservative Christians are far more likely to say it has become more than difficult to be Christian in recent years, while nearly liberal Christians disagree. A majority (55 percent) of Christians who identify as politically conservative say information technology has become more difficult, while simply thirty percent of Christians identifying every bit liberal concord.

Religious Groups Experiencing Discrimination

American perceptions nigh the nature of discrimination experienced by religious communities vary widely. More than vii in 10 (71 percent) Americans say Muslims in the US feel a lot of discrimination. Near half (49 percent) the public say Jews face a lot of discrimination, while fewer than one in three Americans say Christians (29 percent), evangelical Christians (28 percent), Mormons (27 percent), and atheists (24 percent) experience a considerable amount of bigotry in the United states of america.

Beyond the religious spectrum, at that place is substantial agreement about the challenges Muslims face in American society. A majority of every major religious group say Muslims experience a lot of discrimination in the US, including white evangelical Protestants (55 percentage), white mainline Protestants (65 per centum), white Catholics (66 pct), Hispanic Catholics (75 percentage), black Protestants (78 percent), and the religiously unaffiliated (81 percent).

Similarly, the public more often than not agrees on views about atheists. Few Americans say there is a lot of discrimination against atheists in the country today. Less than i in four white evangelical Protestants (xiv percent), white Catholics (17 percent), white mainline Protestants (22 percent), and Hispanic Catholics (22 percent) say atheists face up a lot of bigotry. Twenty-vii percent of blackness Protestants say the same. Notably, less than i-third of religiously unaffiliated Americans, including 40 percent of self-identified atheists, say there is a lot of discrimination against atheists in the US.

Regarding discrimination Christians experience, there is considerable disagreement. More than than half (51 percent) of white evangelical Protestants believe Christians experience a lot of bigotry in the US, a view shared by 38 percent of black Protestants and nigh i-third of white Catholics (33 percent) and white mainline Protestants (29 percent). Only about 1 in eight Hispanic Catholics (15 percent), members of not-Christian religions (13 percentage), and unaffiliated Americans (thirteen percent) share this view.

Who Is a Religious Minority?

A sizable number of Americans say they think of themselves equally a member of a minority considering of their religious beliefs. 20-7 per centum of Americans, including many Christians who are a numerical majority in the US, say they feel similar a minority because of their religious beliefs.

Americans who belong to not-Christian religious traditions, such as Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, and Judaism, are nearly likely to see themselves as a member of a minority community. 70-one per centum of Americans who belong to these traditions say they consider themselves a minority. In contrast, no more than than one in 4 black Protestants (23 per centum), Catholics (xix percent), and white mainline Protestants (sixteen percent) say they are a religious minority. More than than one in three white evangelical Protestants (37 percent) and atheists (35 percent) think of themselves every bit a minority community.

However, beyond denominations, religious Americans who nourish services regularly are more than likely to experience like a minority. For case, close to one-half (43 percent) of white evangelical Protestants who attend services at least in one case a week say they feel similar a member of a religious minority group, compared to 21 pct of white evangelical Protestants who attend services a few times a year or less often.

American Religious Identity and Civilization

Most Americans believe either the US was a Christian nation in the by or the Us all the same is a Christian nation today, even as a growing number believe the land'southward religious identity has changed. 30-seven percent of Americans believe the United states of america has always and continues to be today a Christian nation. More than four in 10 (42 percent) say the The states was a Christian nation but is not any longer. Most one in five (19 percent) say the Usa has never been a Christian nation. A decade before slightly more—42 percent—Americans said the The states was still currently a Christian nation.

Perceptions vary amidst religious groups nigh the country's religious identity. However, there is general understanding that the US is non a Christian nation. Less than half of white Catholics (46 percent), white evangelical Protestants (40 per centum), white mainline Protestants (39 percentage), Hispanic Catholics (38 percent), and black Protestants (36 percent) say the U.s. is a Christian nation. Less than 1 in three (30 percent) religiously unaffiliated Americans agree. Notably, about half (49 percent) of Americans who vest to non-Christian religious traditions say the US is still a Christian nation. White evangelical Protestants are unique to the extent that they believe the land's Christian identity is a affair of the past. A majority (52 per centum) of white evangelical Protestants say America was a Christian nation in the past but not today. Conversely, atheists stand up out for their belief that the United states of america has never been a Christian country; 41 percent express this view.

Americans are divided over the type of country the U.s. should be: a land with an essential civilization and values system or one that evolves as new people arrive. Most (53 percent) Americans say the The states civilization and values should adapt equally immigrants come, while close to half (45 percent) say the U.s. should concur on to its culture and identity that immigrants should prefer.

The question of whether the The states should have an essential culture divides Americans by race and religious amalgamation. White Christians are most probable to believe the US culture and values should be immutable that immigrants should accept on. Most two-thirds (64 percent) of white evangelical Protestants and almost half-dozen in 10 white mainline Protestants (58 percent) and white Catholics (57 percentage) say the US ought to be a country with an identifiable culture and have a set of values that are adopted by immigrants coming over. Less than half of Hispanic Catholics (40 percent), black Protestants (35 percentage), members of non-Christian religious traditions (33 per centum), and unaffiliated Americans (32 percentage) agree.

Americans with greater religious diversity in their firsthand social circle are much more probable to believe the US should be a country with a dynamic and evolving culture. A majority (57 per centum) of Americans with religiously diverse social networks say the United states of america should exist a country made up of many cultures and values that reply to people coming here. Less than half (47 percent) of Americans with compatible religious networks express this view.

Acknowledgments

The Survey Center on American Life of the American Enterprise Plant is grateful to the John S. and James Fifty. Knight Foundation for its generous support of the American National Social Network Survey.

Notes

[1] Pew Enquiry Eye, "In U.S., Decline of Christianity Continues at Rapid Step," October 17, 2020, https://www.pewforum.org/2019/x/17/in-u-s-decline-of-christianity-continues-at-rapid-pace/.

[two] Caryle Spud, "Interfaith Marriage Is Common in U.S., Particularly Amid the Recently Wed," Pew Research Center, June 2, 2015, https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2015/06/02/interfaith-marriage/.

[3] Due to limitations of sample size, Buddhist, Hindu, Jewish, and Muslim respondents were complanate into a not-Christian category. Among any 1 of these groups, charge per unit of homogeneity could be higher than 50 percentage. Differential rates of intermarriage amongst these groups supports this possibility.

[4] This analysis excludes Americans without anyone in their social network.

[5] This analysis relies on a similarly constructed social network bombardment embedded in the 2004 General Social Survey (GSS). A few important differences are worth noting. Kickoff, the GSS social network bombardment allowed respondents to place only up to five social contacts, while the current social network bombardment allows respondents to place up to seven. Despite this important distinction, there is no evidence that it alters the composition of religious networks. Restricting the social network battery to five in the current social network analysis does not modify the results by a significant margin beyond any religious subgroups.

[6] The 2004 GSS information did not include a variable to place evangelical Protestants.

[7] Daniel A. Cox et al., "A Loneliness Epidemic? How Marriage, Religion, and Mobility Explain the Generation Gap in Loneliness," American Enterprise Constitute, September 26, 2020, https://www.americansurveycenter.org/research/a-loneliness-epidemic-how-matrimony-faith-and-mobility-explain-the-generation-gap-in-loneliness/.

[8] Gallup, "Religion," https://news.gallup.com/poll/1690/Religion.aspx.

[9] Daniel A. Cox, "Doubting Disbelievers: A New Approach to Measuring Religious Uncertainty," American Enterprise Institute, April i, 2019, https://www.americansurveycenter.org/research/doubting-disbelievers-a-new-approach-to-measuring-religious-uncertainty/.

[10] This question was piloted in a 2019 survey. The results were included in Cox, "Doubting Disbelievers."

[xi] Pew Research Heart, Religion and Public Life, "U.South. Religious Landscape Survey: Religious Behavior and Practices," June one, 2008, https://www.pewforum.org/2008/06/01/u-southward-religious-mural-survey-religious-beliefs-and-practices/.

Survey Methodology

The survey was designed and conducted by the American Enterprise Institute. Interviews were conducted amidst a random sample of 4,067 adults (age 18 and older) living in the United States, including all l states and the District of Columbia. Interviews were conducted both online using a self-administered blueprint and by phone using live interviewers. All interviews were conducted among participants using a probability-based panel designed to exist representative of the national US adult population run by NORC at the University of Chicago. Interviewing was conducted between July 31 and August 11, 2020.

Weighting was accomplished in two separate stages. First, panel base weights were calculated for every household based on the probability of selection from the NORC National Frame, the sampling frame that is used to sample housing units for AmeriSpeak.[ane] Household level weights were then assigned to each eligible developed in every recruited household. In the second phase, sample demographics were balanced to lucifer target population parameters for gender, age, education, race and Hispanic ethnicity, sectionalisation (Us Census definitions), housing blazon, and telephone usage. The phone usage parameter came from an analysis of the National Health Interview Survey. All other weighting parameters were derived from an assay of the Usa Census Agency'due south Current Population Survey. The sample weighting was accomplished using an iterative proportional fitting (IFP) procedure that simultaneously balances the distributions of all variables. Weights were trimmed to prevent private interviews from having likewise much influence on the results.

The use of survey weights in statistical analyses ensures that the demographic characteristics of the sample closely approximate the demographic characteristics of the target population. The margin of error for the survey is +/– 2.0 percent points at the 95 percent level of confidence. The design consequence for the survey is 1.83.

[1] The National Frame is representative of over 97 percent of Usa households and includes additional coverage of difficult-to-survey population segments, such every bit rural and low-income households, that are underrepresented in other sample frames. AmeriSpeak uses US mail notifications, NORC telephone interviewers, and in-person field interviewers to recruit panel households.

Source: https://www.americansurveycenter.org/research/religious-diversity-and-change-in-american-social-networks/

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