Religion Around the World Study of the 2008 International Social Survey Programme (ISSP)

Attitudes towards religious practices.

Topics: assessment of personal happiness; attitudes towards
pre-marital sexual intercourse; attitudes towards committed adultery;
attitudes towards homosexual relationships between adults; attitudes
towards abortion in case of serious disability or illness of the baby
or low income of the family; attitudes towards gender roles in
marriage; trust in institutions (parliament, business and industry,
churches and religious organizations, courts and the legal system,
schools and the educational system); mobility; attitudes towards the
influence of religious leaders on voters and government; attitudes
towards the benefits of science and religion (scale: modern science
does more harm than good, too much trust in science and not enough in
religious faith, religions bring more conflicts than peace, intolerance
of people with very strong religious beliefs); judgment on the power
of churches and religious organizations; attitudes towards equal rights
for all religious groups in the country and respect for all religions;
acceptance of persons from a different religion or with different
religious views in case of marrying a relative or being a candidate of
the preferred political party (social distance); attitudes towards the
allowance for religious extremists to hold public meetings and to
publish books expressing their views (freedom of expression); doubt or
firm belief in God (deism, scale); belief in: a life after death,
heaven, hell, religious miracles, reincarnation, Nirvana, supernatural
powers of deceased ancestors; attitudes towards a higher truth and
towards meaning of life (scale: God is concerned with every human being
personally, little that people can do to change the course of their
lives (fatalism), life is meaningful only because God exists, life does
not serve any purpose, life is only meaningful if someone provides the
meaning himself, connection with God without churches or religious
services); religious preference (affiliation) of mother, father and
spouse/partner; additional country specific for Kenya: religious preference
(affiliation) of mother, father and spouse/partner; religion respondent was
raised in; additional country specific for Kenya: religion respondent was raised in;
frequency of church attendance (of attendance in religious services) of father and
mother; personal frequency of church attendance when young; frequency of
prayers and participation in religious activities; shrine, altar or a
religious object in respondent’s home; frequency of visiting a holy
place (shrine, temple, church or mosque) for religious reasons except
regular religious services; self-classification of personal
religiousness and spirituality; truth in one or in all religions;
attitudes towards the profits of practicing a religion (scale: finding
inner peace and happiness, making friends, gaining comfort in times of
trouble and sorrow, meeting the right kind of people).

Optional items: conversion of faith after crucial experience; personal
sacrifice as an expression of faith such as fasting or following a
special diet during holy season such as Lent or Ramadan.

Demography: sex; age; marital status; steady life partner; years of
schooling; highest education level; country specific education and
degree; current employment status (respondent and partner); hours
worked weekly; occupation (ISCO 1988) (respondent and partner);
supervising function at work; working for private or public sector or
self-employed (respondent and partner); if self-employed: number of
employees; trade union membership; earnings of respondent (country
specific); family income (country specific); size of household;
household composition; party affiliation (left-right); country specific
party affiliation; participation in last election; religious
denomination; religious main groups; attendance of religious services;
self-placement on a top-bottom scale; region (country specific); size
of community (country specific); type of community: urban-rural area;
country of origin or ethnic group affiliation; additional country specific for Kenya
and Tanzania: ethnic group affiliation.

Additionally coded: administrative mode of data-collection; case substitution;
weighting factor.