Religiousness and its interpretation: variety of sociological measurement methods

Abstract

The article presents an overview of studies on the sociological dimension of the phenomenon of religiosity in modern society. At the moment, as experts in the field of the sociology of religion note, methodological disputes regarding the measurement of the level and degree of religiosity of the population continue quite actively. Among the approaches to studying the religiosity of the population, there are both multidimensional and one-dimensional conceptual models. Within the multidimensional approach, religiosity is represented by a set of characteristics that describe this category. At the same time, researchers who use a multidimensional approach as part of their theoretical constructions have not yet reached a consensus on exactly what indicators can be used to describe the concept of "religiosity". In most cases, the authors measure religiosity based on such characteristics as faith, rituals and practices, as well as knowledge within a particular religious doctrine. Applied domestic research is based on indicators of both religious consciousness and religious behavior in the process of determining the level and degree of religiosity of both the population as a whole and social groups in particular. Also, the phenomenon of religiosity is studied from the standpoint of subjective indicators of respondents' self-identification, their personal interpretation of their religious consciousness, and from the point of view of the level of respondents' religious activity. The issue of religious self-identification in mass surveys is still debatable and requires more careful empirical substantiation in further research.