000			03023cam a2200397 i 4500
001			ocn905736000
003			OCoLC
005			20251028093356.0
008			150203s2015 enk 001 0 eng
010			_a 2014047894
035			_a(Sirsi) i9780190258900
040			_aDLC _beng _erda _cDLC _dYDX _dYDXCP _dBDX _dBTCTA _dOCLCF _dGHS _dCDX _dTLE _dTOH _dERASA _dMNE _dVF$
019			_a927395936
020			_a9780190258900 (cloth : alk. paper)
020			_a019025890X (cloth : alk. paper)
035			_a(OCoLC)905736000 _z(OCoLC)927395936
042			_apcc
043			_an-us---
050	0	0	_aBL 2525 _b.W866 2015
049			_aVF$A
100	1		_aWuthnow, Robert.
245	1	0	_aInventing American religion : _bpolls, surveys, and the tenuous quest for a nation's faith / _cRobert Wuthnow.
264		1	_aOxford ; _aNew York : _bOxford University Press, _c2015
300			_a247 pages ; _c25 cm
336			_atext _btxt _2rdacontent
337			_aunmediated _bn _2rdamedia
338			_avolume _bnc _2rdacarrier
500			_aIncludes index.
505	0		_aThe survey movement -- Measuring belief -- Scientific studies -- Pollsters as pundits -- In polls we trust? -- Talking back -- Taking stock.
504			_aIncludes bibliographical references and index.
520			_a"Today, a billion-dollar-a-year polling industry floods the media with information... Polls tell us that 40 percent of Americans attend religious services each week. They show that African Americans are no more religious than white Americans, and that Jews are abandoning their religion in record numbers. According to leading sociologist Robert Wuthnow, none of that is correct. Pollsters say that attendance at religious services has been constant for decades. But during that time response rates in polls have plummeted, robotic 'push poll' calls have proliferated, and sampling has become more difficult. The accuracy of political polling can be known because elections actually happen. But there are no election results to show if the proportion of people who say they pray every day or attend services every week is correct. A large majority of the public doubts that polls can be trusted, and yet night after night on TV, polls experts sum up the nations habits to an eager audience of millions. Inventing American Religion offers a provocative new argument about the influence of polls in contemporary American society. Wuthnow contends that polls and surveys have shaped--and distorted--how religion is understood and portrayed in the media and also by religious leaders, practitioners, and scholars. He calls for a robust public discussion about American religion that extends well beyond the information provided by polls and surveys, and he suggests practical steps to facilitate such a discussion, including changes in how the results of polls and surveys are presented"-- _cProvided by publisher.
651		0	_aUnited States _xReligion.
650		0	_aPublic opinion polls _zUnited States.
994			_aC0 _bVF$
999			_c135975 _d135975