Religious landscape in Brazil: Comparing different representative nationwide approaches to obtain sensitive information in healthcare research

Abstract

Although the basis of religious studies start with demographics, nation-wide data are often extracted from face-to-face interviews (leading to a social-desirability bias) and in studies not originally designed to assess religion. This study aims to understand the religious landscape in Brazil and to investigate the feasibility of carrying out a representative nation-wide survey without interviewers, comparing it with other representative face-to-face surveys. We conducted a nationwide online survey representing all regions in Brazil. These results were compared with five other Brazilian representative surveys. A total of 1169 individuals completed the online questionnaires. The percentage of participants according to the gender and in relation to the Brazilian region was quite similar for all surveys. However, the online survey had the higher level of education among all surveys. In relation to the religious characteristics, the percentage of each variable varied from survey to survey. Those surveys originally designed to assess religion tended to yield more religious affiliations and less ceiling effects. The online survey was able to identify more diverse religious affiliations and more balanced responses in the religious attendance and importance of religion in life. The present study found that, even in nation-wide representative surveys, there are important differences in the results obtained while investigating religion. These differences could be associated with the type of data collection (face-to-face and online), the design of the study (originally designed to investigate religion or not) and options and the type of the questions used.

The association between spirituality and religiousness and mental health

“…Likewise, most published studies are including a more restricted concept of religiousness and spirituality. Finally, in the present study, the levels of S/R and mental health outcomes were assessed using a self-administered online survey, which could potentially minimize the social desirability bias of these participants, as noted in a previous study 22 .…”

“…Therefore, aiming to fill these gaps, the present study investigates how different levels of S/R (high spirituality and high religiousness – S/R, high spirituality and low religiousness – S/r, low spirituality and high religiousness s/R and low spirituality and low religiousness – s/r) are associated with QoL, depressive symptoms, anxiety, optimism and happiness amon 22 g adults.…”

The effect of religiosity on violence: Results from a Brazilian population-based representative survey of 4,607 individuals

“…Some authors suggest that cultural aspects may influence the religiosity and violence relationship [35,43]. Although the most recent meta-analysis did not find differences between studies performed in the United States of America and studies in other countries [8], it is worth mentioning that Brazil is a highly religious country [48]. Thus, cultural influences should be considered when interpreting the results of the present study.…”

Spiritual Needs of Brazilian Children and Adolescents with Chronic Illnesses: A Thematic Analysis

“…Identifying the spiritual needsof non-religiouschildren andadolescentsisstill achallenge, considering the predominantly religious Brazilian context. The majority of Brazilians identify as being affiliated with the Christian faith, mainly Catholicism and Protestantism/Evangelicalism (Peres et al, 2018). Moreover, it was not possible to interview children with a level of development not compatible with their age; with impaired speech; or with visual problems that impaired the visualization of the photos.…”