Researching religion: The vocation of the sociologist of religion

Abstract

This paper reflects on the vocation or 'calling' of the researcher in the sociology of religion in the light of his experiences of researching transformations in English Catholicism in the last quarter of the twentieth century. It takes as its starting point Weber's two essays. A consideration of religious perspectives on the lay vocation leads to an evaluation of the advantages and disadvantages of insider research. The paper reflects on research mistakes, threats and attempts to co-opt the researcher, unexpected surprises and serendipity, and the need for the social scientist to retain control of his/her research. It concludes with inspiration from Havel that the calling of the sociological researcher is socially important and urges renewed commitment to seeking with integrity the extension of certified knowledge and the demystification of powerful institutional structures.

Uncertainty in the study of belief: the risks and benefits of methodological agnosticism

“…For more than a decade scholars from a range of disciplines have reflected on the intersection of aspects of identity and their varied effects on data collection or analysis. How we 'match' or 'place' ourselves in relation to respondents is clearly significant for researchers themselves (Egharevba, 2001;Hornsby-Smith, 2002), but it is also important in considering reliability of data (Bolognani, 2005;Egharevba, 2001;Quraishi, 2008), and maintenance of credibility (Ryan et al, 2011). Following Carter's (2004) lead in arguing for an identity 'gap' as a positive methodological strategy, we have suggested here that agnosticism can create a form of 'thin rapport' (Smyth & Mitchell, 2008) to simultaneously show and protect ourselves.…”

“…Other accounts emphasise the researchers' violent rejection of the local theology and condemnation of its social or psychological effects on practitioners. Some are relatively open in explaining how their religious beliefs affected the data collection process (Hornsby-Smith, 2002;Quraishi, 2008;Heelas, 2008), while a rare few describe their religious conversion during fieldwork (Jules-Rosette, 1978).…”