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EPISODE · Sep 18, 2017 · 27 MIN

Religious Polls

from Beyond Belief · host BBC Radio 4

The first Gallup national poll into religion was carried out in 1935. Ever since - but especially with the arrival of the internet - pollsters have fed a hungry media the latest statistics about belief in God and church attendance. How important is the polling industry to our understanding of religion? What can the polls not tell us? What is their relationship to academic social sciences? Professor Robert Wuthnow from Princeton University argues that polling on religion is a huge waste of money and creates rather than reflects categories of believers and non-believers. Also joining Ernie Rea to discuss the promise and pitfalls of religious polls are Professor David Voas from University College London, Katie Harrison from the Faith Unit at Comres and Andrew Graystone, founder and former director of the Church Media network. Producer: Rosie Dawson.

Episode metadata supplied by the publisher feed · Published Sep 18, 2017

What this episode covers

The first Gallup national poll into religion was carried out in 1935. Ever since - but especially with the arrival of the internet - pollsters have fed a hungry media the latest statistics about belief in God and church attendance. How important is the polling industry to our understanding of religion? What can the polls not tell us? What is their relationship to academic social sciences? Professor Robert Wuthnow from Princeton University argues that polling on religion is a huge waste of money and creates rather than reflects categories of believers and non-believers. Also joining Ernie Rea to discuss the promise and pitfalls of religious polls are Professor David Voas from University College London, Katie Harrison from the Faith Unit at Comres and Andrew Graystone, founder and former director of the Church Media network. Producer: Rosie Dawson.

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This episode is 27 minutes long.

When was this Beyond Belief episode published?

This episode was published on September 18, 2017.

What is this episode about?

The first Gallup national poll into religion was carried out in 1935. Ever since - but especially with the arrival of the internet - pollsters have fed a hungry media the latest statistics about belief in God and church attendance. How important is...

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