Undergraduate Module Descriptor

SOC3118: Sociology and Demography of Religion

This module descriptor refers to the 2019/0 academic year.

Module Content

Syllabus Plan

Whilst the module’s precise content may vary from year to year, it is envisaged that the syllabus will cover some or all of the following topics:

Is God dying? The secularization paradigm and its critics
The paradox of religion in Europe
Measuring religion across time and space
Data sources on religion (computer lab session I)
Religion and gender
Religion and socioeconomic status
Religion, health and well-being
Religion and the family
Religious statistics and correlations (computer lab session II)
The future of religion
Spirituality and New Age religions

Learning and Teaching

This table provides an overview of how your hours of study for this module are allocated:

Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activities	Guided independent study	Placement / study abroad
22	128	0

...and this table provides a more detailed breakdown of the hours allocated to various study activities:

Category	Hours of study time	Description
Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activity	22	Weekly 2 hour lectures\computer lab sessions where we go over topics and materials
Guided Independent Study	48	Reading and preparing for seminars (4-6 hours per week);
Guided Independent Study	80	Study tasks directed by the module leader: e.g. 20 hours for the practical exercise and 60 hours for the final research report.

Online Resources

This module has online resources available via ELE (the Exeter Learning Environment).

Pew Research Centre, Religion and Public Life: http://www.pewforum.org/

European Social Survey Cumulative File, ESS 1-7 (2016). Data file edition 1.0. NSD - Norwegian Centre for Research Data, Norway - Data Archive and distributor of ESS data for ESS ERIC. https://www.europeansocialsurvey.org/

Inglehart, R., C. Haerpfer, A. Moreno, C. Welzel, K. Kizilova, J. Diez-Medrano, M. Lagos, P. Norris, E. Ponarin & B. Puranen et al. (eds.). 2014. World Values Survey: Round Six - Country-Pooled Datafile Version: www.worldvaluessurvey.org/WVSDocumentationWV6.jsp. Madrid: JD Systems Institute.

ISSP Research Group (2018): International Social Survey Programme: Religion III - ISSP 2008. GESIS Data Archive, Cologne. ZA4950 Data file Version 2.3.0, doi:10.4232/1.13161

Indicative Reading List

This reading list is indicative - i.e. it provides an idea of texts that may be useful to you on this module, but it is not considered to be a confirmed or compulsory reading list for this module.

Bruce, S. (2011). Secularization: In defence of unfashionable theory. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Davie, G. (1990). Believing without belonging: Is this the future of religion in Britain? Social Compass 37(4), 455-469.

Davie, G. (2013). The sociology of religion: A critical agenda (2^nd ed.). London: Sage.

Greeley, A. M. (2003). Religion in Europe at the end of the second millennium: A sociological profile. New Brunswick, N.J.: Transaction Publishers.

Hackett, C., Stonawski, M., Potan?oková, M., Grim, B. J., Skirbekk, V. (2015). The future size of religiously affiliated and unaffiliated populations. Demographic Research, 32(27), 829-841.

Iannaccone, L. R., Finke, R. and Stark, R. (1997). Deregulating religion: The economics of church and state. Economic Inquiry, 35(2), 350-364.

Jagodzinski, W. and Manabe, K. (2009). On the similarity of religiosity in different cultures. In Haller, M. Jowell, R. and Smith T. (Eds.) The international social survey programme, 1984-2009: Charting the globe (pp. 313-336). Abingdon, Oxon; New York: Routledge

Kaufmann, E., Goujon, A. and Skirbekk, V. (2012). The end of secularization in Europe?: A socio-demographic perspective. Sociology of Religion, 73, 69-91.

Knippenberg, H. (2005). The changing religious landscape of Europe. Amsterdam: Het Spinhuis.

Lehrer, E. L. (2009). Religion, economics, and demography: The effects of religion on education, work, and the family. London; New York: Routledge.

McQuillan, K. (2004). When does Religion Influence Fertility? Population and Development Review, 30(1), 25-56.

Norris, P. and Inglehart, R. (2004). Sacred and secular: Religion and politics worldwide. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Trzebiatowska, M. and Bruce, S. (2012). Why are women more religious than men? Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Voas, D. 2009. The rise and fall of fuzzy fidelity in Europe. European Sociological Review, 25(2), 155-168.

Voas, D. and Crockett, A. (2005). Religion in Britain: Neither believing nor belonging. Sociology, 39 (1), 11-28.