Week 15: How can statistical data suport your final paper?

1) Surf these web sources.

Pew Research Center | Religion

Bureau of Economic Statistics

U.S. Census Bureau

• Statistica

2) Choose one article or one set of statistical information to discuss. Read it, study it, explore it’s potential.

• 3) Ask a question to start a conversation about how the article or statistical set could contribute to the debate over a present-day Great Awakening.

Source: https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2022/03/22/more-houses-of-worship-are-returning-to-normal-operations-but-in-person-attendance-is-unchanged-since-fall/ 

• 4) response for two students
• POST
• First student:How are Americans less religious than in decades past?The article I chose for the final paper details the manner in which religious affiliation is one the decline over the last decade. The idea is that more people than 10 years ago now identify as religiously unaffiliated. The article shows that unaffiliated individuals is up 6% from just 5 years ago and 10% from a decade ago. The largest portion of the religious still tend to identify as Christian, but again the numbers reflect a shrinking in Christian commitment and faith as well. From my perspective, the findings tell the story that people are not necessarily turning to traditional religions and forms of spirituality to cope with social, economic, and political issues challenging the country today. Surveys also indicate that people are engaging in daily prayer and lower rates than 10 years ago by significant margins. However, the study indicates that is difficult to assess how important religion is in the lives of Americans today based on survey results. It is clear that this study conveys that America is in religious decline and not a state of awakening.Source: https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2021/12/14/about-three-in-ten-u-s-adults-are-now-religiously-unaffiliated/ 
• Second student:tudent at Arizona State University-Tempe0What role does suffering have in your personal cosmology? A punishment? Trial? Rite of passage?I looked at a Pew Research article about How Americans Make Sense of Suffering. I was wondering: Did belief in religion suffer as a result of suffering? How do people reconcile the COVID-19 pandemic in terms of religion?I thought this was fascinating. We can see that most Christians in America have come a long way from First Great Awakening, when salvation was thought to be given to only the selected few. Now, most Christians believe that people are responsible for their own suffering. In fact, in another page, we can see that most people do not believe see suffering as a punishment from God.I am curious. What role does suffering play in your personal cosmology?Source: Pew Research Center. How Americans Make Sense of Suffering. Accessed on April 23/2022. https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2021/11/23/few-americans-bla…-god-or-say-faith-has-been-shaken-amid-pandemic-other-tragedies/