[Buddha-l] iNTERESTING US MAP GRAPHIC SHOWING %AGE OF THE VARIOUS RELIGIONS

[Jo]

Thanks Scott.

Yes, I am fairly aware of Pew's flaws. This product is only approximately
useful, I'd guess. Should read Hickey's article.
Would the flaws that you mention also be applicable, perhaps, to reporting
of the various Christian groups?  If so, then perhaps all are underreported
so far as youth response goes. 
Also, they do have an Other Faiths category, but what goes into it is
unknown to me: indigenous religions such as Navajo, or the peyote religion?
Surveys of this sort cannot deal with dual identities--each category is
either/or.

Joanna
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On Behalf Of Scott A. Mitchell
Sent: Thursday, March 29, 2012 11:46 AM


Hi all,

I hate to be persnickety (who am I kidding? I love being persnickety!) but
while this map is super fun to play with, it should be noted that the data
underlying the map are flawed, especially when it comes to U.S. Buddhism.
The flaws of the Pew Report on Religious Life as regards Buddhists are
three-fold: 

(1) the survey did not include Hawai'i which has a disproportionate number
Buddhists
(2) the survey was only conducted in English and Spanish thus potentially
missing a large number of Asian-American Buddhists who may not be fluent in
those languages and
(3) the survey was conducted via landline telephones potentially missing
younger Buddhists who (ironically, also according to Pew) are using
landlines less and less

These flaws are alluded to in Shannon Hickey's piece in the 2010 issue of
the Journal of Global Buddhism, and were discussed at some length over on
that other Buddhist email list (H-net) back when the survey was first
published. But to my knowledge no one's really taken the survey to task. 

I would add that there's also an inherent bias in the survey in regards to
categories of religious identification in such a way that obscures folks who
have some relationship to Buddhism, have influenced by it, or hold "dual
identity." But that's another rant for another day.

At any rate, long story short, I'd hazard a guess that (a) there are more
Buddhists (or Buddhist-affiliated types) in the U.S. than 1% and that (b)
there are more along the Eastern seaboard, as Joanna suspects.

I missed J. Gordon Melton's presentation at the AAR that Franz refers to.
Perhaps he can summarize? Were there differences between what Melton
reported and what we get from the Pew Report? Would be interesting to know.

Scott


____________________________________

Scott A. Mitchell
Core Faculty, Institute of Buddhist Studies at the Graduate Theological
Union Editorial Committee, Pacific World BIE Program Coordinator