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The University of Tampa
Secularization at the University of TampaAn interview project sampling a population of students at UT and their level of religiosity when paired with
other variables
Emilie Sears
| COM 470- B | Communication Research Methods |
Dr. Christopher Boulton
May 4th, 2018
CONTENTS
1. Abstract……………………………………… 32. Introduction…………………………………. 33. Literature Review………………………….... 54. Methods & Analysis………………………… 65. Discussion of Findings………………………. 76. Limitations & Future Research Directions….... 97. Works Cited………………………………….. 108. Appendices…………………………………... 11
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Abstract
An interview project at the University of Tampa collected data from 219 participants that
attend the University of Tampa. The project sampled a population of students at UT and their
level of religiosity when paired with other variables: political affiliation, religious affiliation, and
measured alcohol consumption. The study took these self-identifiable variables and connected
them to the sociological theory of secularization; and its prevalence in today’s modern society.
This study ultimately seeks to find validity in the following hypothesis: lower reported religiosity
equates to higher alcohol consumption, and more liberal political views amongst both religious
affiliated and non-religious affiliated students at UT; thus, shifting a noticeable trend towards
modern day secularization. The interviews were fully structured. Prior to being conducted,
interviewers were prompted on how to conduct an interview, and were given instruction on what
questions would be asked. Results proved hypothesis valid, but were inconclusive in projecting
findings further; as the sample size did not provide accuracy for further generalization of college
students, nor the population of University of Tampa students at large.
Introduction
This study analyzes the data collected and primarily focuses on religiosity and its
numerical dependence when it comes to three other tested variables: political affiliation,
religious affiliation, and measured alcohol consumption. With a combination of both qualitative
and quantitative data derived from the conducted interviews, a study unfolds with a
concentration on the level of religiosity of a population of college students at UT. This study
seeks to research if level of religiosity of UT students increases or decreases depending on
different self-identifiable variables.
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This study was inspired from Karl Marx, Sigmund Freud, Max Weber, and Émile
Durkheim; all who collectively postulated a similar theory in which there would be a decline in
the level of religiosity as society continued to modernize. This shared ideology is best described
as secularization. In this theory religion loses social and cultural significance in modern day
society, as religion has now become compartmentalized in daily life (Ritzer, 2017). Durkheim
describes the composition of daily life as either sacred (having to do with religion) or profane
(meaning the mundane, or non-religious aspects of life). With more opportunities in the modern
(post-industrialized) world, and more technology accessible to the general population, there is an
increasing amount of life considered profane in today’s hyper-consumption society. This study
takes something as simple as alcohol consumption, with its growing acceptance in the modern
world, and analyzes its relationship effect with level of religiosity. Previous findings suggest
lower reports of alcohol use are associated with those that report high levels of religiosity
(Meyers, Brown, Grant, B. F., & Hasin 2016). This study seeks to find a similar truth on a
different population, and connect its findings to secularization.
The reverse sociological theory of secularization is sacralization. Sacralization is in
which there is a movement to regress back to traditional society, and make the majority of daily
life sacred again (rather than profane). This societal trend is seen with the implementation of
conservative policies that aim to: limit women’s rights through marginalized pay and constraints
against child bearing (bringing them out of daily modern society, and back into the homes of
traditional societies), restrictions on marriage rights, and lawful objections against abortion
(Ritzer, 2017). If an increased number of liberal students answer with low levels of religiosity, it
should confirm the trend of secularization, as there would be more of a prominence of less
religious, liberal students than highly religious, conservative students. This study also aims to
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confirm if the overall sample population of UT students will exhibit the already proven trend of
lower levels of religiosity amongst younger generations (Wormald, 2015). This study ultimately
seeks to find validity in the following hypothesis: lower reported religiosity equates to higher
alcohol consumption, and more liberal political views amongst both religious affiliated and non-
religious affiliated students at UT; thus, shifting a noticeable trend towards modern day
secularization.
Literature Review
To describe secularization with modern day data, one can look at the global phenomena
of decline in church attendance. The following data is taken from the Religious Landscape Study
(RLS), which consists of “surveys from more than 35,000 Americans from all 50 states about
their religious affiliations, beliefs and practices, and social and political views,” (Wormald,
2015). The RLS survey found only 39% of Catholics attend mass in 2018, as opposed to 75% of
Catholics who attended mass in 1955 (Wormald, 2015). With 97 out of the 219 participants from
our UT sample identifying as Catholic, this is an extremely relevant finding. In an even broader
examination, 16% percent of the U.S. adult population identified as atheists or agnostics in 2007,
as compared to 23% in 2014 (Wormald, 2015). Wormald’s study although reflective of the
secularization trend; however, only analyzes the adult population. The gap of diversification in
age in Wormald’s study will be filled by this new research as it looks at solely college students.
The study will reveal pertinent information that supports the finding younger Americans are less
likely to be affiliated with religion. The following is the percent of each generation that identifies
as atheist, agnostic, or nothing in particular: younger millennials (b. 1990-96) 36%, older
millennials (b. 1981-89) 34%, generation x (b. 1965-80) 23%, baby boomers (b. 1946-64) 17%,
silent generation (b. 1928-45) 11% (Wormald, 2015). Differences in generations play an
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instrumental role in the decrease in level of religiosity, as “the percentage of adults who had been
raised with no religion has increased from 2 percent to 6 percent,” (Hout & Fischer, 2002).
Aside from specific affiliation with a religion, just feeling spiritual in general has said to
have had an effect on behavior in modern society. In fact, the more spiritual you are the less you
are likely to drink (Meyers, Brown, Grant, B. F., & Hasin 2016). To further validify the link
between higher religiosity and lower alcohol consumption, a similar study confirms:
Religiosity is a protective factor against many health problems, including alcohol use disorders
(AUD). US adults reporting greater public religiosity were at lower risk for AUD.” In this study
frequency of adult church attendance was negatively associated with meeting criteria for alcohol
abuse or dependence (Meyers, Brown, Grant, B. F., & Hasin 2016).
The previous studies, although similar, left a marginalized gap in what has influenced levels of
religiosity over the years. My study explores that of previous sociology theorists, and searches
for a relationship with modern day societal trends. My study analyzes that of a younger
demographic, and uses other variables, such as alcohol consumption and political views,
that can be influenced by religiosity and used to describe the growing amount of profane in
modern society.
Methods and Analysis
The study conducted used convenient sampling, or participants that were convenient to
use (Treadwell, 2017); as both the participants and the researchers resided on campus. The
interview was fully structured (Treadwell, 2017) in which the researcher had determined what
questions are important, the order they will be asked, and how they will be structured. A series of
various psychographics and demographics were asked: economic status, class level, major,
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gender, age, religiosity, religious affiliation, political views, number of drinks on occasion, and
days of the week spent drinking. A Likert scale for religiosity was used often, as it made an
intangible object quantifiable. The scale ranged from 0 to 10 (0 having no feeling of religiosity,
and 10 having strong feelings of religiosity). A series of cross tabulations through SPSS, with a
constant dependent as religiosity, were used to analyze the data collected. The cross-tabulations
(Treadwell, 2017) were capable of easily displaying two variables side by side- for convenient
interpretation.
Discussion of Findings
Ninety-seven out of the 219 participants, from the population sample of UT students,
identified as Catholic. With disregard to specific religion and only focusing on religiosity, 113
participants identified with low levels of religiosity (ranging from 0 to 4 on the Likert scale: see
table ‘Religious Affiliation*Religiosity Crosstabulation’), 77 participants identified with high
levels of religiosity (ranging from 6-10 on the Likert scale: see table ‘Religious
Affiliation*Religiosity Crosstabulation’), and 29 participants identified having a neutral level of
religiosity on the Likert scale at 4. Of the 219 participants 41 responded that they had no
religious affiliation (atheist, omnist) or felt spiritually, but did not identify with a religion.
In an analyzation of the crosstab table, ‘Typical Number of Drinks Per
Occasion*Religiosity,’ 50 participants responded drinking 3 or more drinks on occasion, on a 0-
4 low range of religiosity. Thirty participants responded drinking 3 or more drinks on occasion,
on a 6-10 high range of religiosity.
In an analyzation of the crosstab table, ‘Political Views*Religiosity,’ 44 participants
responded very liberal or somewhat liberal, on a 0-4 low range of religiosity. Twenty-five
participants responded very liberal or somewhat liberal, on a 6-10 high range of religiosity.
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Twenty-four participants responded very conservative or somewhat conservative, on a 0-4 low
range of religiosity. Thirty-two participants responded very conservative or somewhat
conservative, on a 6-10 high range of religiosity. Seventy-five participants responded at number
5 on the Likert scale with an answer of a mix of liberal/conservative. In total, 79 participants
responded having liberal, or somewhat liberal views; and 65 participants responded having
conservative, or somewhat conservative views.
The findings prove that most of participants had liberal or somewhat liberal political
views. This supports the trends of secularization and modern society’s transition in moving away
from sacralization, or conservative politics. These findings support that of which Hout and
Fischer found in their similar study conducted in 2002:
The increase in "no religion" responses was confined to political moderates and liberals; the
religious preferences of political conservatives did not change. This political part of the increase
in "nones" can be viewed as a symbolic statement against the Religious Right (Hout & Fischer,
2002).
Those who were less religious were found to drink more alcoholic drinks on a given occasion.
Most of participants were catholic, and days spent drinking by all religions were reported low.
This study ultimately gave validity to the following hypothesis: lower reported religiosity
equates to higher alcohol consumption, and more liberal political views amongst both religious
affiliated and non-religious affiliated students at UT; thus, shifting a noticeable trend towards
modern day secularization. However, as cited in limitations and further research, the findings are
not projectable to a larger population or the general population of the University of Tampa at
large.
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Limitations and Future Research Directions
Convenient sampling is not a strong research method practice. For future research I
would have liked to collect data from a random sample. Random sampling is the best way to
collect data that is representative. Random sampling is that in which every member of a
population has an equal chance to be selected and in which selection is determined by “luck of
the draw” rather than a decision by the researcher (Treadwell, 2017). However, convenient
sampling was less expensive and time consuming. To have done a random sample I would have
had to enter every student’s name at UT into a randomized system, and electronically chose
participants to participate in the interview. Even so, students at UT are not generalizable to other
populations of millennials, or even college students as a whole. To make a bigger claim, I would
have had to conduct a random selection of students from every university and college in
America. In hindsight I could have also chosen an alternative research method as well; as
interviews have their drawbacks. Interviews could have pressured subjects to answer untruthfully
to sensitive topics as they may have seen the interview lacking confidentiality (Treadwell, 2017).
A better method would have been a simple survey, as the data would have come back much
quicker, instead of manually entering the data from the interviews into software such as SPSS.
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Works Cited
Hout, M., & Fischer, C. (2002, April). Why More Americans Have No Religious Preference: Politics and Generations. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/3088891?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents
Meyers, J. L., Brown, Q., Grant, B. F., & Hasin, D. (2016, September 26). Religiosity, race/ethnicity, and alcohol use behaviors in the United States | Psychological Medicine. Retrieved April 8, 2018, from https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/psychological-medicine/article/religiosity-raceethnicity-and-alcohol-use-behaviors-in-the-united-states/47BBD566A1335BFBA88456A07D358BB2
Ritzer, G., & A., W. M. (2017). Essentials of sociology. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications.
Treadwell, D. F. (2017). Introducing Communication Research: Paths of inquiry. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
Wormald, B. (2015, May 11). Religious Landscape Study. Retrieved from http://www.pewforum.org/religious-landscape-study/
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Appendices
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