Inventing American Religion: Polls, Surveys, and the Tenuous Quest for a Nation's Faith - Hardcover

As one of the leading researchers and scholars in the sociology of religion, Robert Wuthnow is perfectly positioned to provide considerable insight into the process and production of sociological research into religion. This work provides interesting historical context to some of the most famous studies in the field. This book will be of interest to those who are interested in the history of those famous studies, those who are interested in polling and sociological research methods, and those who are interested in the social construction of knowledge itself. Readers will be challenged to reconsider what they think they know about what it means to be religious. (V. Jacquette Rhoades, Reading Religion)

Mandatory reading for sociologists of religion and deserving an even wider audience ... fascinating. (P. Kivisto, CHOICE)

A billion-dollar a year polling industry claims to tell us not only which political candidates will win, but also how we are practicing our faith. Polls and surveys on American religion tell us how many Americans went to church last week, whether Americans have been born again, if there is a war on Christmas, if atheists are winning, if miracles happen, and if Jesus is as popular as Harry Potter. No matter the topic, pollsters always seem to have the answer.

Robert Wuthnow questions why it has become easy to take all of these results for granted. Response rates have plummeted, push polls done by robotic-calling machines have become more frequent, and sampling has become more difficult. A large majority of the public doubts that polls can be trusted.

Inventing American Religion argues that the time has come for serious questions to be asked about the polling industry's role in American religion. The book contextualizes the place of polls and surveys in American religion, stepping back in time and looking at how this method of seeking information began. By tracing its history, examining the powerful rise of polling, and tackling the difficult questions of how polls and surveys should be thought of in American religion today, Wuthnow's book looks into how these factors have made the industry what it is today.