The Importance of Social Science in the Study of Religion

Authors

  • Steve Bruce University of Aberdeen

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1558/firn.v4i1.7

Keywords:

census, definition, false extrapolation, limits of fieldwork, statistics

Abstract

The author uses a range of contentious assertions about contemporary religion and spirituality to show the limits on what can be extrapolated from ethnographic work and to argue for the centrality of empirical positivistic social science to claims about the popularity and social significance of religious and spiritual phenomena.

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Author Biography

  • Steve Bruce, University of Aberdeen

    Steve Bruce FBA FRSE was educated at the Queen Victoria School, Dunblane, Perthshire and the University of Stirling. He taught at The Queen’s University, Belfast, from 1978 to 1991 and has since been Professor of Sociology at the University of Aberdeen.

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Published

2010-01-15

Issue

Section

Articles

How to Cite

Bruce, S. (2010). The Importance of Social Science in the Study of Religion. Fieldwork in Religion, 4(1), 7-28. https://doi.org/10.1558/firn.v4i1.7