Soc 3595: Sociology of Religion
Guidelines for Field Research Paper
Due the last day of regular classes
5-7 pages, typed, double-spaced

Your paper should include the following sections:
I. Name and location of the religious organization(s) you studied. Time and dates of attendance, including the length of services/meetings/.... Who you talked with during your visits (not their names, but what kinds of people). Whether you visited alone or in company with others, and whether those others were class members. Also any materials you were able ot collect describing the church, its programs, etc.

II. Your own religious background. In field research, you are yourself the key instrument of research. What you notice, how you react, what you find normal and what you find problematic, the questions you ask and the way you interpret people's answers--all these are affected by who you are religiously at this point in your life. So include your own religious background (if any). Was your family involved in a religious organization (or multiple organizations) during your growing up years? Or if not, did you have relatives or neighbors who were involved and took the initiative of including you in some of their activities. Did your parents (or whoever raised you) have similar beliefs and religious loyaltiers or were they quite different? Were you expected to participate, and did that change as you got older? What stands out as significant in your experience with such organization(s)? What about in your home? Were there prayers? Religious study? Did your school have any religious affiliation, or did you attend supplementary classes of some sort that were religious? How would you characterize your attitudes about religion as you started this course and this fieldwork?

III. Online or other research, before or after your observations. What religious tradition or denomination is represented by this church/synagogue/mosque/... and what is the history of that denomination or tradition? What seem to be the current issues (if any) for this denomination? Can you find out whether it is gaining membership, losing membership, or just holding its own? What is the role of the larger organization in the local church/synagogue/mosque/...? Is the local organization largely independent, or are there pretty strict guidelines about how it is to function? Does the larger organization play any role in choosing local ministers, priests, rabbis,...?

IV. Observations and Conversations. How was the "worship" service structured and how long did it last? What needs seem to be met by this type of worship service? Does the service stimulate thinking or does it primarily provide an outlet for emotional expression? Is there an emphasis on justice and social change issues? Is there much sponteneity in the service, or does everything follow a pre-planned agenda? Do worshipers seem interested and involved, or bored and preoccupied with their own thoughts? Does the service emphasize cognitive transmission through words, or are there many symbols of faith? Do rituals and traditions seem to be important? What seems to be authoritative to these worshipers: personal experience, quotations from the Bible, rational-logical argument? (To what does the leader appeal to convince the congregation that his or her position is a true one?) How diverse is the congregation? Is it welcoming of gays and lesbians? What seems to be the dominant race/ethnicity/social class? What is the ratio of young to old? Male to female? What are the norms about people's behavior in "church," including the behavior of children? Is the church warm and friendly, or does it seem more distant and cold? (How do you experience it?) What (if anything) seemed most strange or unusual to you? What was most appealing? Was there any aspect that made you particularly uncomfortable, and why do you suppose you reacted that way? Is this an organization that seems to expect God's direct intervention in the world? That sees us operating in "end times"? Did you feel there was any effort to recruit you to the organization? What did you learn in your conversations with those in attendance?

V. Future fieldwork assignments for people taking this course. Should fieldwork of this sort be part of any future sociology of religion courses I may teach? Why or why not? Do you think this organization is a good location for such fieldwork assignments? Why or why not? Is there any kind of advance preparation that would have been helpful? Do you think it would have been better to do your fieldwork with another class member (if you did it alone), or vice versa? Can you think of other questions I should ask fieldwork participants to be thinking about?