Data Resources In The Field
ASSESSING ASSOCIATIONS OF RELIGIOUSNESS, HEALTH, AND HEALTH BEHAVIOR IN NATIONAL HEALTH SURVEYS OF THE POPULATION OF THE UNITED STATES
OPPORTUNITIES FOR SECONDARY DATA ANALYSIS
Many reports on religiousness and health are based on small, convenience samples, with limited validity and generalizability of their findings. Studies of religiousness and health-related variables require large, population-based cross-sectional or, preferably, longitudinal studies, which are often prohibitively expensive. Inadequately known among social science researchers, the national health surveys of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) offer large, high-quality data sets to the public at no or nominal cost and hence offer important opportunities for research in the area of religion and health, religion and reproductive behavior, sociology of religion and psychology of religion. Data sets with the most comprehensive data on religion are the National Survey of Family Growth, and the 2002 National Health Interview Survey Complementary and Alternative Medicine Supplement. Details of data sets are available at www.cdc.gov/nchs. An annotated bibliography of prior research using these data, which is intended to suggest how the data of NCHS may be further exploited by researchers of religiousness and health us available upon email request at rfg2@cdc.gov.
EWIC is an interdisciplinary, cross-cultural, transhistorical encyclopedia, focusing on women and Islamic cultures. Lead by a distinguished team of editors (Suad Joseph, General Editor; Afsaneh Najmabadi, Julie Peteet, Seteney Shami, Jacqueline Siapno, and Jane Smith Associate Editors; and Alice Horner, Assistant Editor) EWIC is the first such encyclopedia. Six volumes (4,000,000 words) of EWIC are scheduled to be published (Leiden: Brill). Volume I (Methodologies, Paradigms and Sources) was published in 2003 and Volume II (Family, Law and Politics) was published in 2005. Volume III (Family, Body, Sexuality and Health) will appear at the beginning of 2006. Volumes IV (Economics, Education, Mobility, and Space) will appear in 2006 and, V (Practices, Interpretations, and Representations) and VI (Supplement and Index) will appear in 2007.
We have received a grant from the International Development Research Center to build upon our existing database and create the Encyclopedia of Women and Islamic Cultures (EWIC) Scholars Database for publication as an online resource for free public access. The EWIC Scholars Database is an invaluable listing (we believe the largest) of over 3,000 scholars from all over the world and from all disciplines whose work focuses on women, gender, and Islamic cultures from a broad culturally-based rather than theologically-based perspective. The EWIC Scholars Database includes scholars who work on issues of economy, politics, popular culture, health, family systems, law, demography, arts, literature – the full span of issues relevant to women in cultures in which Islam is significantly represented. The EWIC Scholars Database welcomes the participation of scholars and graduate students from all disciplines, and from all regions of the world, and all areas of research relevant to women in Muslim majority societies and to Muslim women in Muslim minority societies.
As a free publication, this searchable database will connect scholars, students, planners, and activists with each other and with NGO’s, governmental agencies, and potential employers seeking researchers whose work specifically covers issues on women and gender related to Islamic cultures. The online database will be published online by June 2006, at http://sjoseph.ucdavis.edu/ewic
The online database will be updated periodically. It will continue to be used for author solicitation for print and online volumes of EWIC. We would like to reach as many scholars as possible, especially graduate students, who may wish to contribute to EWIC or to be included in the online database. We often receive requests from scholars, foundations, and agencies to connect them with specialists on women and Islamic cultures. The publication of the EWIC Scholars Database online for free access, will make this invaluable resource available to all those interested in our fields of work. Please visit our website at http://sjoseph.ucdavis.edu/ewic which includes a link to our scholars template. We look forward to receiving your response and hope you will assist us in this important project of information sharing and network building.
NEWS-The American Religion Data Archive (ARDA)
www.TheARDA.com
The ARDA has recently completed a major software upgrade. Bar charts and
pie charts are now available through our on-line analysis feature. Mapping
upgrades allow users to compare two maps of a state or the nation and
receive a bivariate correlation using congregational membership, census, crime,
voting, and other types of data.
Finally, all files can now be browsed categorically
or alphabetically and the search engine appears on the homepage, making it
more efficient to search survey questions, investigators, and abstracts.
During the last six months the ARDA has added over two dozen files to the
archive, including:
§ 2002 General Social Survey (a premier survey of the United States).
Items include questions on religious self-identification, denominational
affiliation, church attendance, personal beliefs, and religious upbringing.
§ The NES/CPS American National Election Studies 2002. These data include
indicators of religiosity as well as data on congregational affiliation,
church attendance, and financial contributions to churches.
§ Harvard's 2002 Social Capital Community Benchmark Survey (Saguaro
Seminar).
Social capital is a vital resource for individuals (in social support,
obtaining employment, public health and happiness) and communities in making
government work better, making communities safer, improving economic growth
and educational achievement. This national survey includes an index of the
religious dimension of social capital and 11 different measures of
religiosity.
(Coming online by late February.)
SOON TO BE RELEASED: Survey of Catholic Priests
§ We are currently preparing to make available online the data from the
2001 survey of Catholic priests conducted by Dean Hoge of Catholic University.
This study is a replication his earlier survey of Catholic priests as well as
the
1970 survey by Andrew Greeley and Richard Schoenherr.