American Academy of Religion Conference
Special session A20-134
San Antonio, Texas
November 20, 2023
Chair: F. LeRon Shults, University of Agder
The Dimensions of Religiosity Dataset (DIM-R+): Konrad Talmont-Kaminski, University of Bialystok
Harmonization of Eight Decades of US Religion Datasets: Rachel Bacon, Center for Mind and Culture
Linking Historical Ethnographic and Contemporary Survey Datasets to Study Religious Identity and Change in India: Gina Zurlo, Harvard University
The Assumption-Relative Religious Demographics Information System (ARDEMIS): Wesley J. Wildman, Boston University
Abstract: 2023 marks the release of several datasets and analytical tools capable of generating new insights into religious identity and change. The proposed panel presents four of these datasets, all of which take account of multiple dimensions of religiosity and incorporate multiple waves of data collection. (1) DIM-R+ is the longed-for harmonization of numerous multi-wave, multi-national surveys (ISSP, WVS, EVS, ESS). (2) RICH-USA is a systematic harmonization of numerous surveys on religious and identity and change in the USA. (3) RICH-India is a systematic harmonization of numerous surveys on religious and identity and change in India. (4) ARDEMIS is a system for visualizing the impact of measurement assumptions on religious demographic projections. These publicly available datasets and tools have unusually broad potential for advancing understanding of religious identity and change and thus will be of strong interest to scholars of religion who make use of demographic religion data in their research.