ReligiousStrength

ThroughoutGenerations

HasreligionfallenthroughthecracksforGenerationZ?

KristaBangs
D/CStatistics2016
Crow2A
5/22/16

ThereismuchcontinuityinAmericashistoryofreligion.
Throughoutgenerations
Americanshaveremainedfairlyreligiousinbeliefandpractice,butrecently
thepercentageof
Americanswhosaytheyhavenoreligiousaffiliationhasincreasedsubstantially.Could
increasesintechnology,academiccompetitiveness,andotherstrugglesGenerationZ(and
successivegenerations)facechangethehistoryofstrongreligiousbeliefsandpracticesin
America?Thisstudyfoundthatreligiousstrengthdoesdecreasebetweengenerationsandthat
thesamplepopulationofseniorhighschoolstudentswaslessreligiousthantheirparents.

TableOfContents

Introduction
Detailsthemainquestionandfoundationsofthestudy(pg.4)

DataCollection
Describeshowdatawascollected,themethodofreligiousindexmeasurementandmethods
obtainingasimplerandomsample(pg.56)

DataAnalysis
Discussesthestatisticaltestperformedandtheresultsfound(pg.6)

Conclusion
Givesinformationaboutwhatcanbetakenawayfromthistest,whatimperfectionsthetesthad,
andhowtoimprovethistesttogetbetterandmoreaccuratedata(pg.67)

WorksCited
Alistofallpublicationsthathelpedmedevelopmytestquestion,writemyreligiousindextest,
andinfluencedmyworkonthisproject(pg.8)

Appendix
AppendixARCode(pg.9)
AppendixBReligiousIndexSurvey(pg.1011)
AppendixCDataCollected(pg.1213)
AppendixDParticipantConsent(pg.1418)

WebsiteLink
LinktoStatisticsPortfolioWebsite(pg.18)

RevisedInquiryPitch
Finalprojectpitchwithallupdatedchangesfromrevisionandpeerreviewprocess(pg.1921)

OriginalInquiryPitch
Originalprojectpitchwithnochanges(pg.2224)

RoughDraft
Originalroughdraftofthefinalreport(pg.2531)

PeerReviewFeedback
Feedbackfromroughdraft(pg.3233)

Introduction:

Religionplaysaverybigroleinsomepeopleslivesandtoothersitceasestohaveany
roleatall.However,althoughreligionmayormaynotplayaroleinpeopleslives,religious
beliefsandtraditionsinstudentsaretypicallyinheritedfromtheirparentswhohavethebiggest
influenceontheirchildsreligiousstrength.Frominteractionswithstudentsmyage,Ive
observedthatreligionandreligiouspracticesareneglectedornotevenrecognized.Althoughthis
issometimesaresultoflackofreligiousbeliefsinfamilies,Ivealsoobservedthisinfamilies
withparentswhohavestrongtiestotheirreligion,butforsomereasonthosetiesfraywhen
extendedtotheirchildren.
Withconstantincreasesintechnology,ourworldisconstantlyevolvingandreligion
seemstobelessprevalentinthedailylivesofstudentsandyoungergenerations.Thesefactors
suchasincreasedacademicstressandcompetition,accesstotechnology,andtheinternetare
onesthatdidnthaveaslargeofaneffectonpreviousgenerationsandthefulleffectofthese
factorsonnewgenerationshaventbeenfullyrealized.Couldreligion,anintegralfactorinthe
foundingofAmericaandacontinuityinourhistoryandtradition,bephasedoutdueto
modernization?Thisquestion,iftheanswerisyes,couldprovehowmuchoursocietyhas
evolvedandtransformedthroughoutgenerationsandalsogivesaglimpseintothefutureof
religioninAmerica.
Althoughfrommyinitialresearchthisquestionhasntbeenstudiedbyothers,researchers
havebeenmeasuringstrengthofreligion.DukeUniversitycreatedawaytomeasurepeoples
religiousinvolvementandstrengthofbeliefsinatestcalledtheDukeUniversityReligionIndex
(
Koenig
).Thistestwasveryinfluentialisdesigningmydatacollectionprocessandmydecision
tostudythisquestionformyfinalproject.Ihypothesizedthatreligiousindexscoreswillbe
lowerforstudentsthantheirparentsandthatthetwovariables,generationandreligiousindex
scores,aredependent.
FormysampleIusedhighschoolseniorsataveryacademicallyrigorousmagnetschool,
theLiberalArtsandSciencesAcademy(akaLASA).Thesestudentshavegonethroughfour
yearsofadvancedcoursework,takenmanyAPclasses&tests,andhaverecentlygonethrough
thecollegeapplicationprocess.Thesestudentswerechosenbecausetheyarehighacademic
achieversandusuallyparticipateinmanyextracurricularactivitiesaswell.Idecidedtousethese
studentsbecauseiftheyareabletobalancestrongreligiousbeliefsandpracticeswiththeirlarge
courseloadIcanassumeotherstudentswhodonthaveasmuchontheirplatewillbeabletodo
thesame.

DataCollection:

TocollectasimplerandomsampleofstudentsandtheirparentsIgaveeverystudentin
theLASAclassof2016anumberandthenusedarandomnumbergeneratortoselect30
numbers.Ithenfoundwhichstudentthenumbercorrespondedwithandsentthemamessage
aboutmyprojectandaskedfortheirparticipation.Themessageread:

Hi,youvebeenrandomlyselectedtoparticipateinmystatsfinalprojectandIdbevery
gratefulifyouwouldbewillingtohelpmeout!Imstudyingifstrengthinreligiousfaith
decreasesbetweengenerationsandallIneedyoutodoisfilloutthisquick5question
surveybyThursday(5/12)andthenhaveoneofyourparentsfillitoutaswell.Itshould
takeonly2minutes.Makesureyoufilloutthespacethataskswhoistakingthesurvey
soIknowwhoseresponseiswhose.Ifyouorbothyourparentsfeeluncomfortable
participatingthenyouhavenoobligationtoandjustletmeknow!Alldatawillbeused
formyprojectonlyandwillnotbeseenbyanyoneotherthanme!Thankyousomuch!
Hereisthelink:http://goo.gl/forms/dRGurpSzrk

Iwasabletorecordwhohadparticipatedandwhohadnotbylookingattheresponsesonthe
googleform.Thegoogleformconsistedoffivequestionsintendedtomeasurethethreemajor
dimensionsofreligiosity:organizationalreligiousactivity,nonorganizationalreligiousactivity,
andintrinsicreligiosity.ThisreligiousindexwasinspiredbytheDURELareligiousindextest
createdbyDukeUniversitytomeasurereligiosity(Koenig).Iendedupthrowingoutthefifth
questiononmyreligiousindextestbecauseitwaspoorlywordedandmisleading.
Outofthe30peopleIasked26studentsandtheirparentswereabletoparticipateinmy
study.Iwouldvepreferredtohavemorestudentsinmysample(around30pairsofstudentsand
parents),butIunderstandthatnoteveryoneiscomfortableinsharingtheirreligiousbeliefsand
practices.Thedataturnedouttobepositivelyskewedforboththestudentsandparentsreligious
indexscore.ThisshowsthatatLASAmostpeoplesreligiousindexscoreislow.
IfIhadtakenalargersampleorsampledfromschoolsotherthanLASAthismaynot
havebeensuchanissueandthedistributionmayhavebeenmorenormal.Withmypopulation
beingallseniorsinhighschoolandtheirparents,IfeltthatmysamplefromLASAdidnt
representmypopulationaswell.StudentsatLASAareverybusyespeciallywithcollege
applicationsandmultipleAPexams,sootherstudentsatnonmagnethighschoolsmighthave
moretimetodevotetotheirreligiouspracticesandspendmoretimeatreligiousevents.LASA
alsofailstoreflectthediversityfoundinmanyotherschoolsacrosstheAustinareawhichwould
havegreatlyinfluencedthedata.Thesampleoftheparentsinmytestwasprettyrepresentative
ofparentsofhighschoolseniors.TheonlypossibledifferenceisthatLASAstudentsparents
mayhaveahigherdegreeofeducationthanotherstudentsparents,buthavinganadvanced
5

degreedoesnthavemuchofaneffectonreligiousstrength.Thisfactorwouldntinfluencethe
datainanysignificantway.

DataAnalysis:

InordertoanalyzethedataIusedatwosampleindependentTtestbecausetherewere
twodifferentpopulationstested:thestudentsandtheparents.Thenullhypothesiswasthatthere
wouldbenodifferencebetweenstudentsreligiousindexscoresandthereligiousindexscoresof
theirparents.Thealternativehypothesiswasthattherewasadifferencebetweenthestudents
religiousindexscoresandtheparentsreligiousindexscores.BeforeperformingthistestIhadto
checkalltheassumptionsofthetwosampleindependentttest.Thesampleofeachpopulation
wasrandomandstudentsandtheirparentswereselectedfromarandomnumbergenerator.The
randomsamplesareeachmadeupofindependentobservationsandeachsampleisindependent
ofoneanother.Howeverthepopulationdistributionforeachpopulationisntapproximately
normalitspositivelyskewed,sowemustproceedwithcaution.Afterrunningtheindependent
twosamplettestIgotapvalueof.027indicatingthatthisvalueissignificantbecauseitwas
lessthan.05andthatwecanrejectthenullhypothesis.Thissignificancelevelof95%was
chosenbecausethatswhatstypicallyusedforttestsandwhatIvebeeninstructedtousedall
yearinmyD/Cstatisticscourse.
Withasignificantpvaluewecanconcludethatthereisadifferencebetweenthe
religiousindexscoresofthestudentsandthereligiousindexscoresoftheparents.Thisshows
thatthestrengthinreligionhaschangedbetweenthesetwogenerations.Bylookingatthemean
ofeachpopulationsreligiousindexwecanseethatthemeanreligiousscoreforparentsishigher
thanthemeanreligiousscoreindexforstudents.Themeanreligiousindexscoreis4forstudents
and7.2forparents.Thisconfirmsmyoriginalhypothesisthatreligiousindexwillshowa
decreasefromtheparentsgenerationtothestudentsgeneration.

Conclusion:

Overall,thedatashowedthatthestrengthinreligiousbeliefsandtraditionshasdecreased
betweenthegenerationofcurrenthighschoolseniorparentsandthegenerationofcurrenthigh
schoolseniors.Thismeansthatstudentsreligiousbeliefsarenotasstrongastheirparents.
Althoughreligionisgreatlyinfluencedbyachildsparent(s)thereissomefactorpreventingthe
extentoftheparentsreligiositytonotbefullypasseddowntotheirchild.Thismaybedueto
theoriginalinfluencesIthoughtsuchassocialmedia,increasedacademiccompetition,
technologydistractions,etc.However,Ibelieveinordertoprovethismanymoretestswould
needtobedonethatsamplealargerpopulation,differentgradelevels,manydifferenthigh

schoolsalloverthecountry,andthathaveamorecomprehensivewaytomeasurereligiousindex
andtimemanagement.
IfanothermorecomprehensivetestwasperformedwiththechangesIspecifiedabove
andtheresultsshowedthatstudentsstillscoredlowerthantheirparentsthenIbelieveitissafeto
concludedthatreligiousstrengthdoesdecreasebetweenthesetwogenerations.However,mytest
wasnotnearlycomprehensiveenoughtoofficiallydetermineonalargescaleifreligionis
becominglessimportantandlessprevalenttoyoungergenerations.

WorksCited:

Chaves,Mark."TheDeclineofAmericanReligion."
GuidingPaperSeries
(n.d.):112.The
AssociationofReligionDataArchives.Web.10May2016.

HamiltonBoone,Jeanmarie."DoesReligiousBehaviorPredictAcademicSuccessforEnglish
Learners."
JournalofEducationandHumanDevelopment
1.2(2007):112.Web.14
Apr.2016.

Hirsh,JacobB.,MeganD.Walberg,andJordanB.Peterson."SpiritualLiberalsandReligious
Conservatives."
SocialPsychological&PersonalityScience
4.1(2013):1420.
Spiritual
LiberalsandReligiousConservatives
.SocialandPersonalityPsychologyConsortium,24
Apr.2012.Web.15Apr.2016.

Hutson,Matthew."AreConservativesMoreReligiousandLiberalsMoreSpiritual?"
The
HuffingtonPost
.TheHuffingtonPost.com,6Aug.2012.Web.15Apr.2016.

Koenig,HaroldG.,andArndtBssing.TheDukeUniversityReligionIndex(DUREL):A
FiveItemMeasureforUseinEpidemologicalStudies.
Religions
1.1(2010):7885.
CrossRef
.Web.

AppendixARCode

>student_index<FRIS$IndexScore[FRIS$classification=="student"]
>parent_index<FRIS$IndexScore[FRIS$classification=="parent"]
>hist(student_index,xlab="StudentReligiousIndexScore",main="ReligiousStrengthin
Student")
>hist(parent_index,xlab="ParentReligiousIndexScore",main="ReligiousStrengthin
Parents")
>t.test(student_index,parent_index)

WelchTwoSamplettest

data:student_indexandparent_index
t=2.2766,df=46.945,pvalue=0.02741
alternativehypothesis:truedifferenceinmeansisnotequalto0
95percentconfidenceinterval:
6.0132920.371323
sampleestimates:
meanofxmeanofy
4.0000007.192308

AppendixBReligiousIndexSurvey

10

Thelastquestioniscutoffbecauseitwasmisleadingandconfusedthestudentsand
parentsbeingsampled.

IndexScoreCalculations:
Thefirstanswerforfirstandsecondquestionscountsfor0points,thesecondanswercountsfor
1point,thethirdis2points,thefourthis3points,thefifthcountsfor4points,andthelast
answercountsfor5points.Forthethirdandfourthquestionsthefirstanswercountsfor0points,
thesecondanswercountsfor1point,thethirdcountsfor0points,thefourthanswercountsfor3
pointsandthelastanswercountsfor4points.Thehighestpossiblescoreis18.Thefifthquestion
wasthrownoutandwasnotfactoredintothereligiousindexscore.

11

AppendixCDataCollected

12

13

AppendixDConsenttousedata

Everyparticipantagreedtolettingmeusetheirdataformyprojectbyfillingoutthesurvey.This
agreementwasstatedinthedescriptionofthesurvey.Otherparticipantsmessagedmethrough
Facebook(thesocialmediaplatformIusedtodistributethesurvey)andelectronicallytoldmeI
couldusetheirdata.BelowarescreenshotsfromthestudentswhomessagedmesayingIcould
usetheirdata,butagaineveryonehadtoagreetolettingmeusetheirinformationwhenthey
filledoutthesurvey.

14

15

16

17

WebsiteLink:

WebsiteLink:www.kbstats.weebly.com

18

UpdatedProjectPitch

ReligiousStrength
ThroughoutGenerations

InquiryPitch
FinalProjectD/CStatistics
KristaBangs
Crow1A
SubmittedApril,15th
2016

19

Frommyinteractionswithmyfriendsandtheirparentsitseemsthattheparents
religiousbeliefsaremuchstrongerthentheirchildren's.Althoughthismayjustbeacoincidence,
Iminterestedinresearchingifstrengthinreligiousfaithdecreasesbetweengenerations?This
informationcouldhelppredicttherolereligionwillplayinpeopleslivesinsuccessive
generations.
WhenIwasoriginallyresearchingformyprojectIlookedathowreligioninfluences
academicachievement(Hamilton).Theresultsofthisstudyshowedthatreligiondoesnotaffect
academicsuccess,becausetherearemanyoutsidefactorsthatcancontributetoacademicsuccess
andacademicachievementishardtomeasure.Thisquestiongotmethinkingabouthowas
students,academicstakeupmuchofourtimeandwithourbusyschedulesitseems,from
interactionswithstudentsmyage,thatreligionandreligiouspracticesareneglectedornoteven
recognized.Withconstantincreasesintechnology,ourworldisconstantlyevolvingandreligion
seemstobelessprevalentinthedailylivesofstudents.Couldreligion,anintegralfactorinthe
foundingofAmerica,bephasedoutduetomodernization?Ithinkthisquestion,iftheansweris
yes,couldprovehowmuchoursocietyhasevolvedandtransformedthroughoutgenerations.
InordertotestthisIwouldrandomlysampleseniorsattheLiberalArtsandSciences
Academyhighschool(LASA).Iwouldgiveeverysenioranumberandthenusearandom
numbergeneratortopick30students.Iwouldlatergivethemasurveywithaseriesofquestions
abouttheirreligiousbeliefsanddailypractices.Theywouldfilloutthesurveyearningascore
foreachanswertheyput.Thetotalnumberofpointstheiranswersearnedwouldbetheir
religiousindexscore(aquantitativevariabletomeasurestrengthofreligiousfaithanddevotion).
DukeUniversityhasusedamethodlikethiscalledtheDukeUniversityReligionIndex
(DUREL)whichmeasuresstudentsreligiousinvolvementandstrengthofbeliefs(
Koenig
).I
planonusingtheDURELasatooltohelpmecreateareligiousindextestforthisproject.
Afterstudentsfilloutthesurvey,theywouldhaveaparentfilloutthesamesurvey
(doesntmatterwhichparentfillsitout).Theparentsandstudentsdatawouldbeseparatedinto
differentgenerationcategories(acategoricalvariable)makingthemtwodifferentsample
populations.Iwouldrunanindependentttesttoseeifthetwogenerationsreligiousstrengthand
devotionisindependentofoneanother.Ifthetwosamplepopulationmeansaredifferentenough
thatwillindicatethatreligionhasdecreasedbetweengenerations.Ifthemeansbetweenthetwo
populationsarentverydifferentthanreligionhasntsignificantlychangedbetweengenerations.
Iwouldformaconfidenceintervalandusehypothesistestingtomakefurtherconclusionsabout
mydata.
Althoughnonresponsebiasisaconcernduetomydecisiontohandout/electronically
sendoutsurveys(notdecidedyet),withthemanywaystocommunicatewithpeopleIcan
remindthoseinmysampletofilloutandbringbackthesurvey.
(Update:Ielectronicallysent
outthesurveys)
Iwouldalsogivethestudentslotsoftimetofilloutthesurveysoitisnta
hassleforthem.Ifastudentcannotparticipateordoesnotwanttoparticipate,Icanrandomly
selectanotherstudentformysample.
Iwillalsomakesuretotellstudentsthattheirdatawill
20

onlybeusedforthisprojectandwontbeseenbyanyoneotherthanme.

Ialsowillmake
suretotellthemthattheirdatawillbeerasedafteritservesitspurposeforthisproject.
AnotherpossibleissueisthatLASAislocatedinAustin,Texasthe3rdmostliberalcity
inAustinandthestudentpopulationisveryliberal.Thiscouldpossiblyinfluencemydata
becausetheschoolspopulationisntverydiverseinpoliticalideas,amongotherthings,andthat
couldinfluencetheresponsesbecause,accordingtoanarticleinthe
SocialPsychological&
PersonalityScienceJournal
,conservativestendtobemorereligious(Hirsh).Raceisanother
factorthatcouldaffectmydata.LASAisntasdiverseasotherAustinareahighschoolsdueto
thefactitisamagnetprogramandhasaraceblindapplicationprocess.Thislackofdiversity
couldaffecttheresults.Overall,IbelievethatLASAishometomanydifferentreligionsand
differentlevelsofreligiouspeoplethattheotherissuesmentioned,whilestillissues,arentgoing
toruintheconclusionsofthetest.
Bygivingstudentsasurveytofigureouttheirreligiousindexitwillmakethedatamore
accuratelymeasurableandeasiertoseeifreligiousdevotionhasdecreasedbetweengenerations.
Startingearlyandallowingstudentsplentyoftimetofilloutthesurveywillhelpincreasethe
accuracyofmyresults.IbelievethatthisquestionandtheanswersIconcludewillbeinteresting
everyoneandmainlyhelpfultoparents/religiousfigureswhowanttopreservetherolereligion
hasinsocietyanditsimportance.

WorksCited

HamiltonBoone,Jeanmarie."DoesReligiousBehaviorPredictAcademicSuccessforEnglish
Learners."
JournalofEducationandHumanDevelopment
1.2(2007):112.Web.14
Apr.2016.

Hirsh,JacobB.,MeganD.Walberg,andJordanB.Peterson."SpiritualLiberalsandReligious
Conservatives."
SocialPsychological&PersonalityScience
4.1(2013):1420.
Spiritual
LiberalsandReligiousConservatives
.SocialandPersonalityPsychologyConsortium,24
Apr.2012.Web.15Apr.2016.
Hutson,Matthew."AreConservativesMoreReligiousandLiberalsMoreSpiritual?"
The
HuffingtonPost
.TheHuffingtonPost.com,6Aug.2012.Web.15Apr.2016.
Koenig,HaroldG.,andArndtBssing.TheDukeUniversityReligionIndex(DUREL):A
FiveItemMeasureforUseinEpidemologicalStudies.
Religions
1.1(2010):7885.
CrossRef
.Web.

21

OldProjectPitch

ReligiousStrength
ThroughoutGenerations

InquiryPitch
FinalProjectD/CStatistics
KristaBangs
Crow1A
SubmittedApril,15th
2016

22

Frommyinteractionswithmyfriendsandtheirparentsitseemsthattheparents
religiousbeliefsaremuchstrongerthentheirchildren's.Althoughthismayjustbeacoincidence,
Iminterestedinresearchingifstrengthinreligiousfaithdecreasesbetweengenerations?This
informationcouldhelppredicttherolereligionwillplayinpeopleslivesinsuccessive
generations.
WhenIwasoriginallyresearchingformyprojectIlookedathowreligioninfluences
academicachievement(Hamilton).Theresultsofthisstudyshowedthatreligiondoesnotaffect
academicsuccess,becausetherearemanyoutsidefactorsthatcancontributetoacademicsuccess
andacademicachievementishardtomeasure.Thisquestiongotmethinkingabouthowas
students,academicstakeupmuchofourtimeandwithourbusyschedulesitseems,from
interactionswithstudentsmyage,thatreligionandreligiouspracticesareneglectedornoteven
recognized.Withconstantincreasesintechnology,ourworldisconstantlyevolvingandreligion
seemstobelessprevalentinthedailylivesofstudents.Couldreligion,anintegralfactorinthe
foundingofAmerica,bephasedoutduetomodernization?Ithinkthisquestion,iftheansweris
yes,couldprovehowmuchoursocietyhasevolvedandtransformedthroughoutgenerations.
InordertotestthisIwouldrandomlysampleseniorsattheLiberalArtsandSciences
Academyhighschool(LASA).Iwouldgiveeverysenioranumberandthenusearandom
numbergeneratortopick30students.Iwouldlatergivethemasurveywithaseriesofquestions
abouttheirreligiousbeliefsanddailypractices.Theywouldfilloutthesurveyearningascore
foreachanswertheyput.Thetotalnumberofpointstheiranswersearnedwouldbetheir
religiousindexscore(aquantitativevariabletomeasurestrengthofreligiousfaithanddevotion).
DukeUniversityhasusedamethodlikethiscalledtheDukeUniversityReligionIndex
(DUREL)whichmeasuresstudentsreligiousinvolvementandstrengthofbeliefs(
Koenig
).I
planonusingtheDURELasatooltohelpmecreateareligiousindextestforthisproject.
Afterstudentsfilloutthesurvey,theywouldhaveaparentfilloutthesamesurvey
(doesntmatterwhichparentfillsitout).Theparentsandstudentsdatawouldbeseparatedinto
differentgenerationcategories(acategoricalvariable)makingthemtwodifferentsample
populations.Iwouldrunanindependentttesttoseeifthetwogenerationsreligiousstrengthand
devotionisindependentofoneanother.Ifthetwosamplepopulationmeansaredifferentenough
thatwillindicatethatreligionhasdecreasedbetweengenerations.Ifthemeansbetweenthetwo
populationsarentverydifferentthanreligionhasntsignificantlychangedbetweengenerations.
Iwouldformaconfidenceintervalandusehypothesistestingtomakefurtherconclusionsabout
mydata.
Althoughnonresponsebiasisaconcernduetomydecisiontohandout/electronically
sendoutsurveys(notdecidedyet),withthemanywaystocommunicatewithpeopleIcan
remindthoseinmysampletofilloutandbringbackthesurvey.Iwouldalsogivethestudents
lotsoftimetofilloutthesurveysoitisntahassleforthem.Ifastudentcannotparticipateor
doesnotwanttoparticipate,Icanrandomlyselectanotherstudentformysample.
23

AnotherpossibleissueisthatLASAislocatedinAustin,Texasthe3rdmostliberalcity
inAustinandthestudentpopulationisveryliberal.Thiscouldpossiblyinfluencemydata
becausetheschoolspopulationisntverydiverseinpoliticalideas,amongotherthings,andthat
couldinfluencetheresponsesbecause,accordingtoanarticleinthe
SocialPsychological&
PersonalityScienceJournal
,conservativestendtobemorereligious(Hirsh).Raceisanother
factorthatcouldaffectmydata.LASAisntasdiverseasotherAustinareahighschoolsdueto
thefactitisamagnetprogramandhasaraceblindapplicationprocess.Thislackofdiversity
couldaffecttheresults.Overall,IbelievethatLASAishometomanydifferentreligionsand
differentlevelsofreligiouspeoplethattheotherissuesmentioned,whilestillissues,arentgoing
toruintheconclusionsofthetest.
Bygivingstudentsasurveytofigureouttheirreligiousindexitwillmakethedatamore
accuratelymeasurableandeasiertoseeifreligiousdevotionhasdecreasedbetweengenerations.
Startingearlyandallowingstudentsplentyoftimetofilloutthesurveywillhelpincreasethe
accuracyofmyresults.IbelievethatthisquestionandtheanswersIconcludewillbeinteresting
everyoneandmainlyhelpfultoparents/religiousfigureswhowanttopreservetherolereligion
hasinsocietyanditsimportance.

WorksCited

HamiltonBoone,Jeanmarie."DoesReligiousBehaviorPredictAcademicSuccessforEnglish
Learners."
JournalofEducationandHumanDevelopment
1.2(2007):112.Web.14
Apr.2016.

Hirsh,JacobB.,MeganD.Walberg,andJordanB.Peterson."SpiritualLiberalsandReligious
Conservatives."
SocialPsychological&PersonalityScience
4.1(2013):1420.
Spiritual
LiberalsandReligiousConservatives
.SocialandPersonalityPsychologyConsortium,24
Apr.2012.Web.15Apr.2016.
Hutson,Matthew."AreConservativesMoreReligiousandLiberalsMoreSpiritual?"
The
HuffingtonPost
.TheHuffingtonPost.com,6Aug.2012.Web.15Apr.2016.
Koenig,HaroldG.,andArndtBssing.TheDukeUniversityReligionIndex(DUREL):A
FiveItemMeasureforUseinEpidemologicalStudies.
Religions
1.1(2010):7885.
CrossRef
.Web.

24

ReligiousStrength
ThroughoutGenerations

ThereismuchcontinuityinAmericansbasicreligiosity.Andbyworldstandards
Americanshaveremainedremarkablyreligiousinbeliefandpracticemakinganyobserved
changesseemlikefootnotesinthestoryofcontinuity(Chaves).Howeverthepercentageof
Americanswhosaytheyhavenoreligiousaffiliationhasincreasedsubstantiallythroughoutthe
years.Couldincreasesintechnology,academiccompetitiveness,andotherstrugglesGeneration
Z(andsuccessivegenerations)faceschangethehistoryofstrongreligiousbeliefsandpractices
inAmerica?

KristaBangs
D/CStatistics2016
Crow2A
5/18/16

25


TableOfContents

Introduction
Detailsthemainquestionandfoundationsofthestudy

DataCollection
Describeshowdatawascollected,thereligiousindexmeasurement,andmethodstoobtaina
simplerandomsample

DataAnalysis
Discussesthestatisticaltestperformedandtheresultsfound

Conclusion
Givesinformationaboutwhatcanbetakenawayfromthistest,whatimperfectionsthetesthad,
andhowtoimprovethistesttogetbetterandmoreaccuratedata

WorksCited
Alistofallpublicationsthathelpedmedevelopmytestquestion,writemyreligiousindextest,
andinfluencedmyworkonthisproject

Appendix
AppendixARCode
AppendixBReligiousIndexSurvey
AppendixCDataCollected
26

AppendixDParticipantConsent
AppendixEUpdatedInquiryPitch

Introduction:

Religionplaysaverybigroleinsomepeopleslivesandtoothersitceasestohaveany
roleatall.However,althoughreligionmayormaynotplayaroleinpeopleslives,their
religiousbeliefsandtraditionsareinheritedfromtheirparentswhohavethebiggestinfluenceon
theirchildsreligiousstrength.Frominteractionswithstudentsmyage,Iveobservedthat
religionandreligiouspracticesareneglectedornotevenrecognized.Althoughthisissometimes
aresultoflackofreligiousbeliefsinfamilies,Ivealsoobservedthisinfamilieswithparents
whohavestrongtiestotheirreligion,butthosetiesfraywhenextendedtotheirchildren.
Withconstantincreasesintechnology,ourworldisconstantlyevolvingandreligion
seemstobelessprevalentinthedailylivesofstudentsandyoungergenerations.Thesefactors
suchasincreasedacademicstressandcompetition,accesstotechnology,andtheinternetare
onesthatdidnthaveaslargeofaneffectonpreviousgenerationsandthefulleffectofthese
factorsonnewgenerationshaventbeenfullyrealized.Couldreligion,anintegralfactorinthe
foundingofAmericaandacontinuityinourhistoryandtradition,bephasedoutdueto
modernization?Thisquestion,iftheanswerisyes,couldprovehowmuchoursocietyhas
evolvedandtransformedthroughoutgenerationsandalsogivesaglimpseintothefutureof
religioninAmerica.Myhypothesisisthatgenerationdoeshaveanaffectontheirstrengthof
religiousbeliefandthatthetwovariablesaredependent.Further,Ipredictthatwithintheindex
scorestudentswillshowalackofreligiousstrengthinregardstotheirreligiouspracticesbutwill
stillidentifyasreligious.Thisgoestoshowthatreligionwillstillbeaprevalentideainsociety
insuccessivegenerationsbutwillnotbeaswidelypracticedandobservedasithasbeen.
FormysampleIusedhighschoolseniorsataveryacademicallyrigorousmagnetschool,
theLiberalArtsandSciencesAcademy(akaLASA).Thesestudentshavegonethroughfour
yearsofadvancedcoursework,takenmanyAPclasses&tests,andhaverecentlygonethrough
thecollegeapplicationprocess.Thesestudentswerechosenbecausetheyarehighacademic
achieversandusuallyparticipateinmanyextracurricularactivitiesaswell.Idecidedtousethese
studentsbecauseiftheyareabletobalancestrongreligiousbeliefsandpracticeswiththeirlarge
courseloadIcanassumeotherstudentswhodonthaveasmuchontheirplatewillbeabletodo
thesame.

DataCollection:

27

TocollectasimplerandomsampleIgaveeverystudentintheLASAclassof2016a
numberandthenusedarandomnumbergeneratortoselect30numbers.Ithenfoundwhich
studentthenumbercorrespondedwithandsentthemamessageaboutmyprojectandaskingfor
theirparticipation.Themessageread:

Hi,youvebeenrandomlyselectedtoparticipateinmystatsfinalprojectandIdbevery
gratefulifyouwouldbewillingtohelpmeout!Imstudyingifstrengthinreligiousfaith
decreasesbetweengenerationsandallIneedyoutodoisfilloutthisquick5question
surveybyThursday(5/12)andthenhaveoneofyourparentsfillitoutaswell.Itshould
takelike2minuteshonestly.Makesureyoufilloutthespacethataskswhoistakingthe
surveysoIknowwhoseresponseiswhose.Ifyouorbothyourparentsfeel
uncomfortableparticipatingthenyouhavenoobligationtoandjustletmeknow!Alldata
willbeusedformyprojectonlyandwillnotbeseenbyanyoneotherthanme!Thank
yousosomuch!Hereisthelink:http://goo.gl/forms/dRGurpSzrk

Iwasabletorecordwhohadparticipatedandwhohadnotbylookingattheresponsesonthe
googleform.Thegoogleformconsistedoffivequestionsintendedtomeasurethethreemajor
dimensionsofreligiosity:organizationalreligiousactivity,nonorganizationalreligiousactivity,
andintrinsicreligiosity.ThisreligiousindexwasinspiredbytheDURELareligiousindextest
createdbyDukeUniversitytomeasurereligiosity.Iendedupthrowingoutthefifthquestion
becauseitwaspoorlywordedandmisleading.
Outofthe30peopleIasked26studentswereabletoparticipateinmystudyandtheir
parentsagreedtoparticipateaswell.AlthoughIwouldvelikedtohave30pairsofstudentsand
parentsIwasabletoworkwith26instead.Iwouldvepreferredtohavemorestudentsinmy
sample,butIunderstandthatnoteveryoneiscomfortableinsharingtheirreligiousbeliefsand
practices.Thedataturnedouttobepositivelyskewedforboththestudentsandparentsreligious
indexscore.ThisshowsthatatLASAmostpeoplesreligiousindexislow.IfIhadtakena
largersampleorsampledfromschoolsotherthanLASAthismaynothavebeensuchanissue
andthedistributionmayhavebeenmorenormal.Withmypopulationbeingallseniorsinhigh
schoolandtheirparents,IfeltthatmysamplefromLASAdidntrepresentmypopulationas
well.StudentsatLASAareverybusyespeciallywithcollegeapplicationsandmultipleAP
exams,sootherstudentsatnonmagnethighschoolsmighthavemoretimetodevotetotheir
religiouspracticesandspendmoretimeatreligiousevents.Thesampleoftheparentsinmytest
wasprettyrepresentativeofparentsofhighschoolseniors.TheonlydifferenceIcanthinkofis
thatLASAstudentsparentsmayhaveahigherdegreeofeducationthanotherstudentsparents,
buthavinganadvanceddegreedoesnthavemuchofaneffectonreligiousstrength.Thisfactor
wouldntinfluencethedatainanysignificantway.

DataAnalysis:
28


InordertoanalyzethedataIusedatwosampleindependentTtestbecausetherewere
twodifferentpopulationstested:thestudentsandtheparents.Thenullhypothesiswasthatthere
wouldbenodifferencebetweenstudentsreligiousindexscoreandthereligiousindexscoreof
theparents.Thealternativehypothesiswasthattherewasadifferencebetweenthestudents
religiousindexscoreandtheparentsreligiousindexscore.BeforeperformingthistestIhadto
checkalltheassumptionsoftheindependentttest.Thesampleofeachpopulationwasrandom
andstudentsandtheirparentswereselectedfromarandomnumbergenerator.Therandom
samplesareeachmadeupofindependentobservationsandeachsampleisindependentofone
another.Howeverthepopulationdistributionforeachpopulationisntapproximatelynormalits
positivelyskewed,sowemustproceedwithcaution.Afterrunningtheindependenttwosample
ttestIgotapvalueof.027indicatingthatthisvalueissignificantbecauseitwasgreaterthan
.05andthatwecanrejectthenullhypothesis.Thissignificancelevelof95%waschosen
becausethatswhatstypicallyusedforttestsandwhatIvebeeninstructedtousedallyear.
Withasignificantpvaluewecanconcludethatthereisadifferencebetweenthe
religiousindexscoreoftheparentsandthereligiousindexscoresoftheparents.Thisshowsthat
thestrengthinreligionhaschangedbetweengenerations.Bylookingatthemeanofeach
populationsreligiousindexwecanseethatthemeanreligiousscoreforparentsishigherthan
themeanreligiousscoreindexforstudents.Themeanreligiousindexscoresare4and7.2
respectively.Thisconfirmsmyoriginalhypothesisthatreligiousindexwillshowadecrease
fromtheparentsgenerationtothestudentsgeneration.

Conclusion:

Overall,thedatashowedthatthestrengthinreligiousbeliefsandtraditionshasdecreased
betweencurrenthighschoolseniorparentsandcurrenthighschoolseniors.Thiscouldbedueto
anumberoffactorssuchasLASAnotbeingthebestpopulationtotestduetohighacademic
workloadorthatmysamplewasntbigenoughtomakeconclusionsaboutthedifferencesin
religiousstrengthbetweenstudentsandtheirparents.TheseissueswerefactorsIshouldve
thoughtmoreaboutwhencollectingdataanddesigningmytest.Ididoriginallypredictthat
religiousstrengthwouldbelowerinhighschoolseniorsthanintheirparentsbutIthinkmy
samplewasntagoodrepresentationofthepopulationIwastryingtostudy.LASAsdominant
racesarewhiteandasianwhichleavesoutmanyotherraceswhichcouldhavepotentially
influencethedata.
Ialsolearnedthattherearemanyotherissues,outofmycontrol,thatmayhave
influencedthedata.Manypeoplesreligiousstrengthgrowsaftertheyhavechildrenandasthey
becomeolder.Thiscanbeduetomanyreasons,butsometimesitsbecauseparentswanttobe
moreinvolvedintheircommunityandwanttheirchildrentolearngoodmoralsandvalueswhich
religiousteachingsusuallyprovide.Thiscouldhaveinfluencedthedatabymakingtheparents
29

religiousindexscoreshigherthanthestudents.Parentshavealsobeenalivelongergivingthem
moretimetoexperimentandbuildtheirreligioustieswhilechildrenhaventhadthattimeand
theirreligionismainlyinfluencedbytheirparents.Allofthesefactorscouldhavepotentially
influencedtheresultsandconclusionsIcameto.
IfIwastoredothisstudyIwouldsamplerandomlyaround30studentsfromeachhigh
schoolinAustin,Texas.Thiswouldgivemeabetterrepresentationofthepopulationofhigh
schoolseniorsandtheirparents.Ithinkthiswouldgreatlyinfluencethedataandpossiblychange
theresultsIgotafterrunningmyinitialtest.Iwouldalsomakemyreligiousindextestlongerin
ordertohaveamorecomprehensiveassessmenttodeterminereligiousstrength.Ithinkthesetwo
changeswouldhelpgivemeabetteranswertomyoriginaltestquestion.Alongwiththese
changes,Iwouldalsowritemorequestionsaskinghowpeoplespendtheirtimeinordertoseeif
technologyandschoolworkhaveabiginfluenceontimemanagement.Ipredictedthat
technologyandworkwouldinterferewithreligiousstrength,especiallyforstudents,butfailedto
analyzethisinmytest.
Theresultsofmytestshowedthatreligiousindexscoresforstudentsarelowerthanfor
theirparents.ThismaybeduetotheoriginalinfluencesIthoughtsuchassocialmedia,increased
academiccompetition,technologydistractions,etc.However,Ibelieveinordertoprovethis
manymoretestswouldneedtobedonethatsamplealargerpopulation,possiblysample
differentgradelevels,andthathaveamorecomprehensivewaytomeasurereligiousindexand
timemanagement.

30

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HamiltonBoone,Jeanmarie."DoesReligiousBehaviorPredictAcademicSuccessforEnglish
Learners."
JournalofEducationandHumanDevelopment
1.2(2007):112.Web.14
Apr.2016.

Hirsh,JacobB.,MeganD.Walberg,andJordanB.Peterson."SpiritualLiberalsandReligious
Conservatives."
SocialPsychological&PersonalityScience
4.1(2013):1420.
Spiritual
LiberalsandReligiousConservatives
.SocialandPersonalityPsychologyConsortium,24
Apr.2012.Web.15Apr.2016.

Hutson,Matthew."AreConservativesMoreReligiousandLiberalsMoreSpiritual?"
The
HuffingtonPost
.TheHuffingtonPost.com,6Aug.2012.Web.15Apr.2016.

Koenig,HaroldG.,andArndtBssing.TheDukeUniversityReligionIndex(DUREL):A
FiveItemMeasureforUseinEpidemologicalStudies.
Religions
1.1(2010):7885.
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