Assessing the Validity of Key Informant Reports about Congregations' Social Composition

Frenk, Steven M.; Anderson, Sandra VanDam; Chaves, Mark; Martin, Nancy K.

doi:10.1093/socrel/srq064

Cited by 30 publications

(31 citation statements)

References 11 publications

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“…We used multiple approaches to identify and reach as many congregations as possible, but we probably missed some small, less active congregations, and those with few resources and less established religions/theologies. Also, while key informants tend to report accurately on most measures, they are less accurate in reporting a congregation's social composition [39]. Furthermore, this study did not account for religious leaders’ characteristics, especially their educational credentials, and ability to mobilize volunteers to influence health programming [35].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In each congregation, we identified and interviewed a key informant—a clergy or an administrative staff person with tenure of at least 3 months, preferably salaried—as key informants provide the most valid assessments when asked about observable congregational characteristics [39]. The study was approved by the University of Cincinnati Institutional Review Board.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Faith-Based HIV Prevention and Counseling Programs: Findings from the Cincinnati Census of Religious Congregations

et al. 2013

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Congregations are well positioned to address HIV in their communities, but their response to HIV has been mixed. An emerging literature describes HIV programming in urban, predominantly black congregations, but population-based data remain limited. This study examined the levels of HIV prevention and counseling programs and associated factors (e.g., religious, organizational) by using data from a phone census of congregations in the Greater Cincinnati area (N = 447). Over 10 % of congregations (36 % of Black Protestant and 5–18 % of other types of congregations) offered HIV education/prevention alone or in combination with counseling or with counseling and testing. Path analysis results showed notable significant (p < 0.05) total effects of theology-polity on HIV prevention/counseling programs, but these effects were fully mediated by other factors, including other community work and racial composition. The levels of HIV programming in this study were high by national standards, but further outreach is needed in high-risk African American communities.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Faith-Based HIV Prevention and Counseling Programs: Findings from the Cincinnati Census of Religious Congregations

et al. 2013

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“…These include the propensity of key informants to overestimate the similarity of opinions within an organization, the key informant may not know what is actually taking place within the congregation, or the key informant may be simply reporting what the congregation's ideal stance would be. Researchers should keep these weaknesses in mind and interpret the results of this study cautiously (Frenk et al ; Schwadel and Dougherty ). However, while such loose coupling between what the key informant is reporting and what is actually taking place within the congregation may exist, there is evidence for the reliability of the key informant strategy, especially concerning the NCS (see Beyerlein and Chaves ; Chaves et al ; Frenk et al ).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Researchers should keep these weaknesses in mind and interpret the results of this study cautiously (Frenk et al ; Schwadel and Dougherty ). However, while such loose coupling between what the key informant is reporting and what is actually taking place within the congregation may exist, there is evidence for the reliability of the key informant strategy, especially concerning the NCS (see Beyerlein and Chaves ; Chaves et al ; Frenk et al ). Furthermore, while the key informant methodology utilized in the NCS‐II is not without weakness, the NCS‐II is still a significant source of information concerning the stances American congregations take concerning the inclusion of gays and lesbians.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Gendered Organizations and Inequality Regimes: Gender, Homosexuality, and Inequality Within Religious Congregations

Whitehead

2013

Scientific Study of Religion

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Building upon Acker's (. Hierarchies, jobs, bodies: A theory of gendered organizations. Gender and Society 4(2):139–58; 2006. Inequality regimes: Gender, class, and race in organizations. Gender and Society 20(4):441–64) theory of gendered organizations and inequality regimes, this study investigates the extent to which inequality in gender and sexuality are linked within religious congregations. Using a nationally representative sample of congregations in the United States, the results demonstrate that a congregation's stance toward allowing women to serve as head clergyperson is significantly associated with its acceptance of gays and lesbians as members or leaders within the congregation. This research extends existing literature in three ways. First, it offers support for the utility of the concept of inequality regimes for investigating dimensions of inequality in addition to gender. Second, it provides evidence of the intersection of gender and sexuality within religious congregations, thereby contributing to the growing dialogue on congregational responses to homosexuality. Finally, these findings propose a number of avenues for future research regarding gender, sexuality, and organizations.

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“…Visible activities, such as voting drives, are likely recalled with higher consistency by informants than clergy speech (Chaves et al. ; Djupe and Gilbert ; Schwadel and Dougherty ; Frenk, Anderson, and Martin ). Second, a hypernetwork sample requires adjustment for the size of organizations since larger organizations are more likely to be nominated.…”

Section: Datamentioning

confidence: 99%

Congregational Political Activity and Same-Sex Marriage: Social Movement Theory and Evidence for Contextual Influence

Adler

Hoegeman

West

2014

The Sociological Quarterly

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We interpret three strands of social movement theory (social threat, opportunity structure, and resource mobilization) to understand religious congregations' political activity related to same-sex marriage. Using a unique, national data set from the 2008 presidential election, we show the importance of the anti-same-sex marriage discursive opportunity structure (DOS) for facilitating, and occasionally constraining, congregational political activity. Other theoretical factors influence congregations under limited, although important, conditions. Our research develops a nuanced understanding of congregations' roles in social movements that prioritize institutionalized political activity and expands DOS theory in relation to local religious organizations.

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Assessing the Validity of Key Informant Reports about Congregations' Social Composition

Cited by 30 publications

References 11 publications

Faith-Based HIV Prevention and Counseling Programs: Findings from the Cincinnati Census of Religious Congregations

Faith-Based HIV Prevention and Counseling Programs: Findings from the Cincinnati Census of Religious Congregations

Gendered Organizations and Inequality Regimes: Gender, Homosexuality, and Inequality Within Religious Congregations

Congregational Political Activity and Same-Sex Marriage: Social Movement Theory and Evidence for Contextual Influence

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