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Since the early days of psychology researchers have tried to measure social phenomena and especially religion and spirituality which are the most important topics among them to determine their effects on behaviors, emotions and thoughts. They have developed a lot of measures. Today there is a large literature related these topics. Therefore various psychometric techniques have been developed to evaluate the scales in the field in parallel with statistical development. In this work Hill tries to exhibit overview of the current situation by touching paradigm of measurement firstly. Then he divides measures have been used widely into twelve categories and evaluates them in terms of technical features. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Empirical studies have identified significant links between religion and spirituality and health. The reasons for these associations, however, are unclear. Typically, religion and spirituality have been measured by global indices (e.g., frequency of church attendance,self-rated religiousness and spirituality) that do not specify how or why religion and spirituality affect health. The authors highlight recent advances in the delineation of religion and spirituality concepts and measures theoretically and functionally connected to health. They also point to areas for growth in religion and spirituality conceptualization and measurement. Through measures of religion and spirituality more conceptually related to physical and mental health (e.g., closeness to God, religious orientation and motivation, religious support, religious struggle), psychologists are discovering more about the distinctive contributions of religiousness and spirituality to health and well-being. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]