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Born Again but Not Evangelical? How the (Double-Barreled) Questions You Ask Affect the Answers You Get.
- Source :
- Public Opinion Quarterly; Fall2022, Vol. 86 Issue 3, p621-642, 22p, 3 Graphs
- Publication Year :
- 2022
-
Abstract
- Public opinion research often identifies evangelical Christians based on a double-barreled, yes-or-no, question asking respondents whether they are an evangelical or born-again Christian. This paper uses a survey experiment to demonstrate the implications of this measurement strategy. Among White Americans, more than one-third of those whom researchers classify as evangelical using the standard double-barreled question actually eschew the evangelical label; the same is true for just under two-thirds of African Americans. Additionally, these born-again non -evangelical Christians hold less conservative political outlooks compared to the self-identified evangelicals with whom they are grouped, and, in fact, oftentimes more closely resemble those who reject both the evangelical and born-again labels. Despite this, the double-barreled identification question produces a White "evangelical or born-again" group that looks politically similar to a composite "evangelical" or "born-again" group based on two questions asking about each identity separately. Finally, important differences appear across race, suggesting that religious and political histories affect how people interpret and respond to double-barreled questions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Subjects :
- CHRISTIANS
EVANGELICAL churches
RESPONDENTS
CONVERSION (Religion)
PUBLIC opinion
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 0033362X
- Volume :
- 86
- Issue :
- 3
- Database :
- Complementary Index
- Journal :
- Public Opinion Quarterly
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 159490825
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1093/poq/nfac035