The Santa Clara Strength of Religious Faith Questionnaire: Assessing Faith Engagement in a Brief and Nondenominational Manner

Abstract

Abstract:The Santa Clara Strength of Religious Faith Questionnaire is a brief (10-item, or five-item short form version), reliable and valid self report measure assessing strength of religious faith and engagement suitable for use with multiple religious traditions, denominations, and perspectives. It has been used in medical, student, psychiatric, substance abuse, and among general populations nationally and internationally and among multiple cultures and languages. Brief non denominational self report measures of religious and faith engagement that have demonstrated reliability and validity are not common but can have potential for general utility in both clinical and research settings. This article provides an overview of the scale and current research findings regarding its use in both research and clinical practice.

Structural Validity of ‘Santa Clara Strength of Religious Faith Questionnaire’ in Greek Sample

“…Here it should be noted that the population used in these researches consisted mainly of undergraduate students and a few adults. Although SCSRFQ has been used in multiple populations, such as Ireland and Germany [6], there are however no references that this scale has been used in other languages apart from English.…”

“…Research using SCSRFQ that have been published in quality peer reviewed settings have used the scale primarily in medical and university settings [6]. Here it should be noted that the population used in these researches consisted mainly of undergraduate students and a few adults.…”

“…The SCSRFQ is a brief 10 items self-reporting measure assessing strength of religious faith and engagement suitable for use with multiple religious traditions, denominations, and perspectives [6]. It was developed as a unidimensional construct [4,5] and was supported as a unifactorial measure of religious faith [7].…”

Characteristics of Atheist Pre-Service Elementary Teachers

“…The SCSRFQ, a reliable and validated assessment useful for multiple religions, uses a four-point Likert-like scale, resulting in a range of possible scores from 10 (no faith) to 40 (strong faith) (Freiheit, Sonstegard, Schmitt, & Vye, 2006). Scores under 26 are to be considered low faith, and scores 26 and over are to be considered high faith (Plante, 2010). Although psychometrically sound and commonly used in social science research due to its nondenominational structure, the SCSRFQ is not an optimum instrument for the nonreligious.…”

“…All 94 PSTs also took The Santa Clara Strength of Religious Faith Questionnaire (SCSRFQ), a 10-question self-report measure designed to assess respondents' strength of religious faith (Plante, 2010;Plante & Boccaccini, 1997; see Table 1). The SCSRFQ, a reliable and validated assessment useful for multiple religions, uses a four-point Likert-like scale, resulting in a range of possible scores from 10 (no faith) to 40 (strong faith) (Freiheit, Sonstegard, Schmitt, & Vye, 2006).…”