Some Factors Associated with Variations in Church Attendance

Church attendance, as reported on three Survey Research Center studies, has been analyzed by sex, race, age, number of children, life cycle, education, occupation, and family income within groups designated as Protestant, Catholic, Jewish, Baptist, and Methodist. Analysis of the Christian groups reveals: (1) women, both in and out of the labor force, attend church more frequently than men; (2) Negroes attend church somewhat more often than whites; (3) the higher the education and occupation levels, the greater the rate of church attendance; (4) no associations between frequency of church attendance and age, number of children, or family income; (5) increased regularity of church attendance by Protestants with children 5 years old and over. The Jewish group shows the effect of its traditional Orthodox pattern in having a greater frequency of synagogue attendance for men than women and for the older Jewish age groups in contrast to the younger age groups. There are no significant associations between church attendance and education, occupation, or income within the Jewish group. HE development of the sociology of religion has been handicapped by a lack of data on large populations. While many fine studies have been made of the religious behavior of restricted populations and some on communities as large as Indianapolis or Detroit, reliable data for regions or the entire nation have not been available.1 To help extend the empirical basis for treatment of religious behavior, this article presents data on the association of several demographic and social factors with variations in church attendance. The *The author is indebted to the Survey Research Center of The University of Michigan for permission to use its data and facilities and for financial support of this project. The opportunities for analysis of these religious data were pointed out by Dr. Angus Campbell, Director of the Survey Research Center. The author is now with the University of Illinois. I Some of the studies that have investigated the associations between church attendance or interest and various other characteristics are: (a) Gerhard Lenski, "Social Correlates of Religious Interest," American Sociological Review, 18 (October 1953), pp. 533-544. This article deals with Indianapolis., (b) Harry Sharp and Albert Mayer, Religious Characteristics in the Detroit Metropolitan Area (Ann Arbor, Michigan: The Detroit Area Study, 1960, mimeographed). (c) Joseph H. Fichter, Social Relations in the Urban Parish (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1954). (d) Basil Zimmer and Amos Hawley, "Suburbanization and Church Participation," Social Forces, 37 (May 1959), pp. 348-354. This article deals with Flint, Michigan. (e) Harold L. Orbach, "Aging and Religion: Church Attendance in the Detroit Metropolitan Area," Geriatrics (in press, 1961). (f) Joseph 1. Schuyler, Northern Parish (Chicago: Loyola University Press, 1960). (g) Anonymous, "How Important Religion Is To Americans," Catholic Digest, 17 (February 1953), pp. 6-12. While this article presents some national data, it does not seem to be based on a probability sample. (h) Wesley Allinsmith and Beverly Allinsmith, "Religious Affiliation and Politico-Economic Attitude," Public Opinion Quarterly, 12 (Fall 1948), pp. 377-389. Their data are not based on a probability sample but do pertain to the entire population of the United States. (i) Michael Argyle, Religious Belbavior (London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1958, and recently pubThis content downloaded from 207.46.13.114 on Thu, 26 May 2016 06:06:54 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms