testing instrument for faith

Discussion in 'Off-Topic Discussions' started by Howard, Feb 28, 2002.

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  1. Howard

    Howard New Member

    I am working on a research project that measures the relative degree of pain and depression of people with different levels of faith. I have a pain rating scale and a depression rating instrument. Can any tell me where I might find an instrument (short and not too complicated) that a person could complete that would show their faith level or level of religiousity?

    Thanks,
     
  2. Guest

    Guest Guest

    Although I do not embrace their position, Kenneth Copeland & Kenneth Hagin often speak of faith and one's level of faith. If you find this instrument, Howard, I would be interested in obtaining a copy.
     
  3. Tom Head

    Tom Head New Member

    Beliefnet has an unscientific "What's Your Spiritual Type?" faith meter (I scored 58 out of 100), not to be confused with their Belief-O-Matic, which tells you what religion you belong to (I took it four times over a period of two years or so and received four different results, ranging from Liberal Protestant to Liberal Quaker to UU to Neo-Pagan; that last one really caught me off guard, but I scored as a Liberal Protestant again last time, despite the fact that I didn't say anything either way about the divinity of Christ).

    As far as scientific polls go: Try D.R. Hoge, "A Validated Intrinsic Religious Motivation Scale," Journal of the Scientific Study of Religion 11 (1972), pp. 369-376.

    Good luck!


    Cheers,
     
  4. Tom Head

    Tom Head New Member

    Re: Re: testing instrument for faith

    Er, instrument, not poll; sorry.


    Cheers,
     
  5. BillDayson

    BillDayson New Member

    Re: Re: testing instrument for faith

    I just scored a 40, the lowest possible score in 'active spiritual seeker'. I find that title generally accurate.

    But I don't think that the intensity of belief, let alone its orthodoxy, necessarily translates into intensity of religiosity.

    The Belief-o-Matic had no doubts about me: Theravada Buddhist (100%). I find that increasingly accurate.

    But the fact that it gave me Christian Science at 90% surprised me. I don't know where that came from. UU (which I like a lot) came in at a respectable 86%, just ahead of Scientology (which I don't) at 83! Liberal Protestant (80%) beat out atheist and agnostic which only managed a paltry 69. That surprised me since I usually call myself a religious agnostic. Conservative Protestant managed 50, which was way ahead of Roman Catholic and Islam at 29%.

    All in all, I agree with the two tests. I would call myself a religious agnostic with Buddhist tendencies, who is probably too much of a dabbler for his own good. The Belief-o-Matic succeeded in catching that.
     
  6. me again

    me again Well-Known Member

    While I do believe in faith, I doubt you’ll be able to measure it quantifiably on a standard scale. There are too many variables. But since you’ve narrowed it down to ”pain vs. no pain,” let us know what your research finds...
     
  7. I scored a 47 and a Neo-Pagan. Now I need to find out what a Neo-Pagan is...
     
  8. Guest

    Guest Guest

    Wow, I scored 94 and fell in the Candidate for Clergy category. No wonder I am a clergyperson. :D
     
  9. Tom Head

    Tom Head New Member

    That would seem to show a good match, yes! :p

    In describing myself, I love to use W. Somerset Maugham's description of a Unitarian--someone who "very earnestly disbelieves in almost everything that anybody else believes, and has a very lively sustaining faith in he doesn't quite know what." But preaching's certainly in my blood (both grandfathers, three of my great-grandfathers, and an uncle are/were all ministers of various denominations), so you never know...


    Cheers,
     
  10. Guest

    Guest Guest

    There remaineth hope for thee my son! :)
     
  11. Nosborne

    Nosborne New Member

    A glance at the person's check register will tell you far more about his committment to any religion or group than any test battery; we confer our wealth on what matters to us most!

    Nosborne, who grudgingly supports the only synagogue in town.
     
  12. Engaged Org

    Engaged Org New Member

    Ya gotta love our undying belief in positivism!! I'd move away from a number-crunching approach and try something more qualitative - perhaps phenomonology.

    Numbers and faith: Doesn't seem like a good methodological match ... But hey - we think we can measure happiness too! :)
     
  13. Howard

    Howard New Member

    Re: Re: testing instrument for faith

    Russell,
    I found a nice instrument "Santa Clara Strength of Religious Faith Questionnaire." 10 questions and seems to have validity and reliability. To what email address should I forward it. Howard.
     
  14. Guest

    Guest Guest

    Re: Re: Re: testing instrument for faith

    [email protected]
     
  15. John Bear

    John Bear Senior Member

    I was just this week reading a summary of a 2-year study done at the Mayo Clinic on the value of intercessory prayer. Double blind randomized controlled experiment on 800 people with cardiovascular problems, admitted to, then discharged from Mayo. Five people prayed regularly for one group, none for the other. I can't figure out from the summary if (as one might expect) a measure of faith was a factor.

    (Apparently no difference was found in the two groups.)

    The paper, by J. M. Aviles, is on www.mayo.edu
     
  16. Howard

    Howard New Member

    Thanks John, the result is not really surprising ... but good information for background work for the project I am planning. Howard.
     
  17. kgec

    kgec New Member

    Belief-O-Matic gives me 100 for Liberal Quaker, and 90+ for Ba'Hai, UU and Reform Judaism. I'd always considered myself a lukewarm Roman Catholic, but BOM ranks that denomination second-lowest, a couple points ahead of Jehovah's Witness.

    No wonder the other scale called me a "spiritual straddler..."

    God bless us, everyone.

    Tommy K
     
  18. Tom Head

    Tom Head New Member

    I just retook it a few days ago (because I couldn't remember exactly how I scored; and I was in an unusual mood when I scored Liberal Protestant; and it was at least four months ago, anyway), and came up with this:

    1.  Unitarian Universalism (100%)
    2.  Liberal Quaker (99%)
    3.  Reform Judaism (93%)
    4.  Neo-Paganism (91%)
    5.  Liberal Protestant (88%)
    6.  Mahayana Buddhism (87%)
    7.  Bahá'í (86%)
    8.  New Age (86%)
    9.  Sikhism (86%)
    10.  Theravada Buddhism (78%)
    11.  Orthodox Judaism (71%)
    12.  New Thought (66%)
    13.  Secular Humanism (65%)
    14.  Islam (63%)
    15.  Jainism (61%)
    16.  Scientology (59%)
    17.  Taoism (59%)
    18.  Orthodox Quaker (58%)
    19.  Hinduism (57%)
    20.  Latter-day Saint (Mormon) (49%)
    21.  Atheism and Agnosticism (47%)
    22.  Christian Science (Church of Christ, Scientist) (42%)
    23.  Conservative Protestant (41%)
    24.  Eastern Orthodox (36%)
    25.  Roman Catholic (36%)
    26.  Seventh Day Adventist (32%)
    27.  Jehovah's Witness (27%)


    This is more-or-less congruent with what I got the first few times I took the test; the very first result was 100/100 UU/Liberal Quaker. Reform Judaism (formerly 50s), Mahayana Buddhism (formerly 60s), Secular Humanism (formerly 40s), and Islam (formerly 40s) have all gone up a good bit (especially Reform Judaism), while Roman Catholic (formerly 50s) and Christian Science (formerly 70s) have fallen behind by a significant margin.

    Flaky scores for a guy who almost went to seminary a couple of years ago, and it all highlights just how much my abstract beliefs can change in a relatively short period of time. (That's what happens when you're in your early twenties and researching doctoral work in philosophy of religion; you hit your Young Adult Identity Crisis and your Seminarian's Crisis of Faith at about the same time. Well, it'll settle down soon enough. For now, it certainly keeps things interesting.)


    Cheers,
     
  19. Nosborne

    Nosborne New Member

    Like I said, "follow da money."

    BTW, how did the guy who came up with the test define Reform Jewish belief? I sure couldn't do it; neither could my Rabbi, I'll bet!

    Nosborne
     
  20. Howard

    Howard New Member

    Hey Nosborn
    Would "reformed jewish" be an oxymoron????? Howard.
     

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