Paranormal America: Ghost Encounters, UFO Sightings, Bigfoot Hunts, and Other Curiosities in Religion and Culture

Appendix

203 Appendix Data, Methods and Findings For readers concerned about methodological issues this appendix provides details on the sources of our data—extensive fieldwork and two waves of the Baylor Religion Survey, and the statistical analyses that lie behind our presentation. The Baylor Religion Surveys FundedbytheJohnTempletonFoundation,theBaylorReligionSurvey(BRS) is an in-depth survey of religious beliefs and attitudes administered to the U.S. general population. Most other national surveys, such as the General Social Survey (GSS) and National Election Study, include limited questions on religion.1 That is not to say that the developers of these surveys do not feel that religion is important; rather it is a question of focus. The BRS was designed to try to fill this gap with the inclusion of dozens of new religion questions. Most important for the purposes of this book, the BRS includes multiple questions on paranormal beliefs, experiences, and practices. This book utilizes data from the first two waves of the BRS. Wave 1, collected in the fall of 2005 consists of a random sample of 1,721 Americans . Wave 2, collected in the fall of 2007, provides responses from a random sample of 1,648 Americans. In the interests of space we have not reproduced the full survey booklets for each wave in this volume. Interested readers can view the questionnaires at the Web site for Baylor’s Institute for Studies of Religion (ISR): http://www.baylor.edu/ISR. Researchers can also download the surveys at http://thearda.com. Data Collection The Gallup Organization administered the Baylor Religion Survey. Even though the BRS includes many religion questions, it was not administered 204 Appendix only to highly religious people, or to a certain type of religious person. The Gallup Organization called a random sample of people around the country in order to solicit their participation in the survey. As such, every person in the United States with a phone had an equal chance of being selected for the survey. While Americans are overwhelmingly Christian, people of non-Christian religions and atheists completed the survey as well.2 For both waves, Gallup used a mixed-mode sampling design (telephone and self-administered mailed surveys). The recruitment and administration of the BRS can be broken down into three distinct phases: (1) initial recruitment through random-digit dialing; (2) phone interviews on a randomly selected subsample of participants to determine bias in initial refusals; and (3) the mailed survey. Given the number of different stages in the process, we will focus upon Wave 1 in our description below and present a table to summarize both waves. The Gallup Organization conducted phone recruitment requesting participation in a survey project which is designed to “investigate the values and beliefs of Americans.” The Gallup Organization did not indicate that the BRS was specifically about religion or that Baylor University was involved in the study for fear that this might bias the response rate. The random -digit telephone sample was drawn from telephone exchanges serving the continental United States. In order to avoid various other sources of bias, a random-digit procedure designed to provide representation of both listed and unlisted (including not-yet-listed) telephone numbers was used. The design of the sample ensures representation of all telephone numbers by randomly generating the last two digits of numbers selected on the basis of their area code, telephone exchange, and bank order. The mailed survey consisted of a sixteen-page booklet including a cover page titled, “The Values and Beliefs of the American Public—A National Study.”3 Questionnaires included a cover letter explaining the study’s objectives and a number to call if participants had any questions or comments. In appreciation of their participation, potential mail survey respondents were offered a $5.00 incentive to complete the self-administered questionnaire and return it to the Gallup Organization. A follow-up reminder postcard was sent to all those who did not respond to the initial survey mailing. For Wave 1 the Gallup Organization contacted 7,041 households by phone and 3,002 people agreed to participate in the study. The response rate for the initial recruiting phase is calculated according to the American Association for Public Opinion Research (AAPOR) RR1 definition : RR1=3,002/7,041=42.6%. Of the 2,603 surveys mailed, 1,721 were Appendix 205 completed and returned. Consequently, the return rate for the mailed surveys is 66.1% (1,721/2...