Bibliography: BIB27524

web link	bahai-library.com/bibliography/BIB27524
reference type	Journal Article
title	Congregation and Social Structure : An Investigation into Four Northern Irish Memberships
journal	Social Compass : International Review of Sociology of Religion (London)
author	Stringer, Adrian
year	2013
date	March 1, 2013
issue	1
volume	60
abstract	The relationship between organised religion and the wider society has been of fundamental concern within the sociology of religion. The author addresses the issue in terms of how material forms of social structure relate to individual congregational memberships. Four contrasting congregations were chosen for study (Baha’i, Roman Catholic, Anglican and Independent Evangelical), all in the author’s home region of Northern Ireland. A range of interviewing methods and tools were used, including tables of indices of dissimilarity, narrative analysis and Multidimensional Scaling. Each congregation was found to be delineated according to a specific set of demographic variables, each forming the profile of a wider community beyond that generated by itself. Additional investigations revealed how the congregations operated at the micro, meso and macro levels of social integration and differentiation.
language	English
keywords	RELIGION; NORTHERN IRELAND; SOCIAL STRUCTURE
URL	http://scp.sagepub.com/content/60/1/22.abstract
DOI	10.1177/0037768612471775
pages	22–40
Legal note	11.