What Proportion of Adult Hispanics Are Catholic? A Review of Survey Data and Methodology

Authors: PERL, PAUL1; GREELY, JENNIFER Z.2; GRAY, MARK M.3

Source: Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, Volume 45, Number 3, September 2006 , pp. 419-436(18)

Publisher: Blackwell Publishing

Key:
Free Content - Free Content
New Content - New Content
Subscribed Content - Subscribed Content
Free Trial Content - Free Trial Content

Abstract:

The proportion of Hispanics who are Catholic remains unclear, partly because of varying survey methods and limited understanding of how these variations affect estimates of Hispanic religious identification. We compare 12 national surveys conducted since 1990. Language use strongly predicts religious identification among Hispanics—more strongly than other indicators of assimilation—and evidence suggests English-only interviewing inflates Protestant identification. Additionally, identifying Hispanics through ancestry questions may inflate Catholic identification. We also explore effects of sampling bias, noncoverage bias, and weighting on religious identification. Analyses suggest that poststratification weighting is advisable, particularly for language use. However, weighting cannot fully substitute for extensive coverage of subpopulations such as recent immigrants and Spanish-only speakers. We conclude that 70 percent or slightly more is a reasonable estimate of the proportion of adult Hispanics who are Catholic, and 20 percent a reasonable estimate of the proportion who are Protestant or other Christian.

Document Type: Research article

DOI: 10.1111/j.1468-5906.2006.00316.x

Affiliations: 1: Paul Perl is a Researcher for the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA), 2300 Wisconsin Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20007., Email: pmp2@georgetown.edu 2: Jennifer Z. Greely is a Researcher for CARA., Email: jaz6@georgetown.edu 3: Mark M. Gray is a Research Associate at CARA and a Research Assistant Professor at Georgetown University., Email: mmg34@georgetown.edu

The full text electronic article is available for purchase. You will be able to download the full text electronic article after payment.

$42.63 plus tax

 

OR

Back to top

Key:
Free Content - Free Content
New Content - New Content
Subscribed Content - Subscribed Content
Free Trial Content - Free Trial Content
Page Help Click here for Page Help
Shopping cart
Tools
Sign in






Need to register?
Sign up here
Text size: A | A | A | A