Faith Matters Survey, 2006

The Faith Matters (FM) Survey was conducted on behalf of Harvard University by International Communications Research in the summer of 2006. The national survey interviewed approximately 3,100 respondents in an hour-long phone survey both about their religion (beliefs, belongings and behavior) and their social and political engagement. The 2006 Faith Matters Survey provides the bulk of the data in the book American Grace: How Religion Divides and Unites us by Campbell and Putnam. Wherever possible the Faith Matters Survey replicated questions asked in other surveys, enabling the research team to validate findings with different sources of data (including the General Social Survey and the National Election Studies). Interviews were conducted in both English and Spanish. To ensure the accuracy of the Spanish translation, the team had the survey backward-translated into English after completion. When asked if they would like to participate in the survey, respondents were not told that it was a study about religion. Instead, interviewers introduced themselves and said that the survey was being conducted on behalf of researchers at Harvard and Notre Dame, and that it was "on some current events". Demographic variables in this study include age, gender, education, household income, ethnicity, political ideology, and citizenship.