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If you have any concerns not addressed below, please email the Center for Social Research (csr@calvin.edu) or call us at (616) 526–7799.
Contents (use links to jump to extended answers):
- Why is this survey being conducted, and by whom?
- Who is being surveyed?
- Are my responses confidential?
[Short answer: yes, of course--CSR is professionally committed to protecting your confidentiality.]
- May I be notified when the survey results are published?
[Short answer: yes--just let us know at csr@calvin.edu]
- I responded online, then got a paper survey; do I need to do it twice?
[Short answer: no, one is enough!]
- The survey design doesn't seem right to me. What were you thinking?
- I have more questions or comments; whom should I contact?
[Short answer: CSR for general questions and comments; the Calvin IRB if you are concerned about your rights as a survey participant.]
Questions and Answers
- Why is this survey being conducted, and by whom?
Understanding the real-world role of clergy in public life is an important topic both for practical theology and for democratic theory. The Clergy and Public Affairs survey is a joint project of several scholars with a long tradition of research on clergy and public affairs. This year's survey continues a regular post-presidential-election series conducted every four years since 1980 for Southern Baptists and since 1988 for other denominations. The scholars below and their colleagues have published a number of books and articles, including The Bully Pulpit (University Press of Kansas, 1997) and Pulpit and Politics: Clergy in American Politics (Baylor University Press, 2004).
The coordinating principal investigator is Corwin Smidt, executive director of the Paul B. Henry Institute for the Study of Christianity and Politics at Calvin College. James Penning and the staff of the Calvin College Center for Social Research are administering the survey. Collaborating scholars for this year's study include:
- Brian Calfano, Missouri State University
- Christopher Devine, The Ohio State University
- John Green, University of Akron
- James Guth, Furman University
- Kyle Kopko, The Ohio State University
- Steven Montreal, Concordia University of Wisconsin
- Laura Olson, Clemson University
- Jeff Walz, Concordia University of Wisconsin
- Who is being surveyed?
Clergy are sampled and invited from official lists of ministers from multiple Christian denominations. The 2009 survey includes clergy from:
- the Assemblies of God,
- the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ),
- the Christian Reformed Church in North America,
- the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America,
- the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod,
- several Mennonite denominations,
- the Presbyterian Church (USA),
- the Reformed Church in America,
- the Southern Baptist Convention,
- and the United Methodist Church.
- Are my responses confidential?
Absolutely. The Center for Social Research is a professional operation that stakes our reputation on protecting you from confidentiality violations. We handle, store and analyze survey data without any reference to your identity. Respondent keys are used to confirm denominational affiliations and to remove respondents from the reminder mailing list. They are indispensable to ensure we do not waste time or resources.
- May I be notified when the survey results are published?
There will likely be several publications resulting from the survey, so we do not anticipate a single, overarching report from the study. News and results will be posted in the CSR blog section for the project as they emerge. If you are particularly interested in receiving active notification of the availability of study results, write to us or call us at the addresses below.
- I already responded online, but now a paper questionnaire just arrived in the mail. (Or vice versa: I responded on paper but just found an email message.) Should I take the survey twice?
No, please don't trouble yourself--but thank you for your generous concern! The paper and online surveys are alternate forms of the same survey, and responding either way will mark your response complete. The link in your email message includes the same respondent key that is found on your paper questionnaire and will mark you off automatically.
- The survey design doesn't seem right to me. Why is that?
Some respondents will find the survey design inadequate to express their nuanced, complex situations. In many cases, we as a team bear do full responsibility for errors in the survey design; we apologize for your frustration and are grateful for your concern. In other cases, the survey design is intentionally ambiguous or restrictive for methodological reasons it would be too tedious to explain here. Sometimes, "errors" in design we made twenty years ago must be perpetuated to ensure comparability in over-time data collection.
One important point is that the inclusion of questions offering an array of options on controversial issues does not imply any endorsement by the research team of the moral or political legitimacy of any particular answer choice. We are more interested in describing the landscape of clergy and public affairs than in critiquing particular points of view.
Your comments are very welcome (within the survey itself, or see the next item for our contact information) and will certainly be considered in future revisions of the survey design.
- I have more questions or comments; whom should I contact?
Please contact the Center for Social Research with any additional questions or comments, (616) 526–7799 or csr@calvin.edu. If appropriate, we can connect you with the scholar(s) connected to your denomination or interested in your particular concerns.
However, if your question concerns your rights as a research participant and you wish to speak to someone not connected with the survey project, please contact the Calvin College Insitutional Review Board, an independent board with on- and off-campus members that holds Calvin and affiliated researchers accountable for ethical behavior and for compliance with federal law protecting research participants.
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