The Research
The Research
TERMS USED FOR | FAITH JOURNEYS
Nomads—a type of faith journey in which a person wanders or drifts away from active involvement with a church or faith community. Nomads typically think of themselves as Christian, but they try new faith experiences or practices or allow their faith to become disconnected from spiritual priorities. See chapter 3, “Nomads and Prodigals,” for more details.
Prodigals—a faith journey in which a person gives up on the faith of their childhood, i.e., someone who describes himself/herself as an ex-Christian. Use of the term prodigal is not meant to suggest these individuals will return to faith at some point later in life; simply that they do not consider themselves to be Christian after at one time having been a part of Christianity. See chapter 3, “Nomads and Prodigals.”
Exiles—a faith journey in which a person feels stuck between the comfortable, predictable world of church and the “real world” they feel called to influence. Often there is a disconnect between their calling or professional interests and their understanding of their Christian faith. While the journeys of prodigals and nomads occur during any kind of cultural setting, exiles are most common during periods of profound cultural, spiritual, and technological change. See chapter 4, “Exiles.”
TERMS USED FOR | GENERATIONS
A generation is an analytical tool for understanding culture and the people within it. It simply reflects the idea that people who are born during a certain period of time are influenced by a unique set of circumstances and global events, moral and social values, technologies, and cultural and behavioral norms. Barna Group uses the following generations:
Mosaics—those born 1984 through 2002; many of today’s teenagers and twentysomethings, often referred to as Millennials or Gen Y. Barna Group uses Mosaics because it reflects their eclectic relationships, thinking styles, and learning formats, among other things.
Busters—those born from 1965 to 1983, similar in birth years to the generation often called Gen X.
Boomers—those born from 1946 to 1964, the “Baby Boom” generation that followed World War II.
Elders—those born prior to 1946, sometimes called the “greatest generation” or “Builders.”
METHODOLOGY
Throughout this book you will read about research that is not directly footnoted. Those statistics and data-based statements have been derived from a series of national public opinion surveys conducted by Barna Group in relation to the You Lost Me project between 2007 and 2011. Those studies build on findings from two decades of national studies conducted prior to that time.
In addition to extensive quantitative interviewing with adults and faith leaders nationwide, the main research for this book was conducted among 18- to 29-year-olds. This was a multiphase project that began with qualitative (or depth) interviews, conducted both via telephone and in-person. The large-scale quantitative study among 18- to 29-year-olds was conducted online. The You Lost Me study also included pretesting of the survey instrument as well as parallel testing on key measures using telephone surveys, including cell phone sampling. This provided an additional validation of the online panel and helped to round out our understanding of young adults’ faith journeys.
All of the following studies are referenced in this book and were conducted by Barna Group among a national random sample of the population identified. Upon completion of each survey, minimal statistical weights were applied to the data to allow the results to more closely correspond to known national demographic averages for several variables. In the case of all Barna telephone studies conducted since 2008, special effort was made to include people who no longer have a landline in their home but now rely solely on mobile phones.
All telephone studies relied on callbacks to households or churches not reached after the first attempt; a maximum of six callbacks were made to each nonresponsive household or church, with contact attempts made at different times of the day and days of the week. The average length of the surveys in these studies ranged from fifteen to twenty-two minutes.
The online studies (with the exception of the YouthLeaderPoll) used an online research panel called KnowledgePanel, created by Knowledge Networks. It is a probability-based online non-volunteer access panel. Panel members are recruited using a statistically valid sampling method with a published sample frame of residential addresses that covers approximately 97 percent of U.S. households. Sampled non-Internet households, when recruited, are provided a netbook computer and free Internet service so they may also participate as online panel members. KnowledgePanel consists of about 50,000 adult members (ages 18 and older) and includes persons living in cell phone only households.
Survey
Data Collection
Dates Conducted
Sample Size
Sampling Error†
18–29-year-olds
Faith Journeys
online
Jan. 2011
1,296*
±2.7
Faith Journeys—parallel study
telephone
Jan. 2011
520
±4.3
Faith Journeys
online—pretest
Aug. 2010
150*
±8.0
Faith Journeys
telephone—depth
Aug.–Dec. 2009
76**
qualitative
U.S. Adults
OmniPollSM 1-11
telephone
Jan. 2011
600
±4.1
OmniPollSM 1-11A
online
Feb. 2011
1,021
±3.2
OmniPollSM 2-09
telephone
July 2009
1,003
±3.2
OmniPollSM 3-08
telephone
Aug. 2008
1,004
±3.2
OmniPollSM 2-08
telephone
July–Aug. 2008
1,003
±3.2
Markets & States database
telephone
1997–2010
47,733
±0.4
U.S. Pastors
PastorPollSM W-07
telephone
Dec. 2007
605
±4.1
PastorPollSM S-08
telephone
July–Aug. 2008
613
±4.1
PastorPollSM F-08
telephone
Nov.–Dec. 2008
600
±4.1
PastorPollSM 1-09
telephone
July–Aug. 2009
603
±4.1
Tweens and teens, ages 8–17
YouthPollSM 2009
online
Dec. 2009
602
±4.1
Barna teen & tween database
telephone / online
1997–2006
4,161
±1.5
Youth Leaders
YouthLeaderPollSM
online
Oct. 2009
507
±4.5
Youth Leaders
telephone—depth
Aug. 2009
25
qualitative
†
When researchers describe the accuracy of survey results, the estimated amount of sampling error is often provided. This refers to the degree of inaccuracy that might be attributable to interviewing a group of people that is not completely representative of the population from which they were drawn. The maximum amount of sampling accuracy is listed in the table above. That estimate is dependent upon two factors: (1) the sample size and (2) the degree to which the result you are examining is close to 50 percent or the extremes, 0 percent and 100 percent. Keep in mind that there is a range of other errors that may influence survey results (e.g., biased question wording, question sequencing, inaccurate recording of the responses provided, inaccurate data tabulation, etc.)—errors whose influence cannot be statistically estimated.
THE RESEARCHER
David Kinnaman is the president and majority owner of Barna Group, a leading research firm focused on the intersection of faith and culture located in Ventura, California. David joined George Barna’s research team in 1995 as an intern. Since then, David has designed and analyzed hundreds of market research projects for a variety of clients, including the American Bible Society, the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, CARE, Columbia House, Compassion, Easter Seals, Focus on the Family, Habitat for Humanity, the Humane Society, NBC-Universal, The ONE Campaign, the Salvation Army, SONY, Walden Media, World Vision, Zondervan (HarperCollins) and many others.
In addition to client studies, he has overseen eighty-six nationwide, representative research studies among American adults, teenagers, tweens, and clergy on matters of faith, spirituality, public opinion, political attitudes, and cultural dynamics. This body of public opinion research is frequently quoted in major media outlets (such as USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, Fox News, Chicago Tribune, The New York Times, and The Los Angeles Times). In total, during Kinnaman’s sixteen years at the firm, he has supervised or directed interviews with more than 350,000 individuals and leaders.
Kinnaman is the co-author of the best-selling book, unChristian: What a New Generation Really Thinks about Christianity, which explores the attitudes of 16- to 29-year-olds in relation to faith. He frequently speaks publicly on topics of trends, teenagers, vocation and calling, leadership, and generations.
You can reach him at [email protected].