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2023-24 Religious Landscape Study (RLS) Dataset

This Pew Research Center survey was conducted among a nationally representative sample of adults to provide estimates of the U.S. population’s religious composition, beliefs and practices.

Data access and use

Pew Research Center is releasing two versions of the dataset – a public-use file (PUF) and restricted-use file (RUF). Both datasets include information on all 36,908 of the survey’s respondents. The PUF does not include any information about geography, and it excludes information on several other sensitive variables (including detailed variables about religious identity). These geographic and other sensitive variables will be included only in the RUF, which we intend to make accessible at a future date via ICPSR with a data use agreement. Refer to the enclosed readme file for additional details.

Topics

The survey covers topics such as religious identity, religious beliefs and practices, spirituality, social and political values, and more.

Sample design

The survey is designed to be representative of the U.S. adult population, and of all 50 states and the District of Columbia. We used address-based sampling (ABS) and mailed invitation letters to randomly sampled addresses from the United States Postal Service’s Computerized Delivery Sequence File. This approach gave nearly all U.S. adults a chance of being selected to participate in the survey. People who received our invitation had the option of completing the survey online, on paper, or by calling a toll-free number and completing the survey by telephone with an interviewer. The survey was conducted in two languages, English and Spanish. Responses were collected from July 17, 2023, to March 4, 2024.

If you have any questions, please contact:
Gregory A. Smith, Senior Associate Director, Research
gsmith@pewresearch.org

Pew Research Center. 2025. “2023-24 U.S. Religious Landscape Study Dataset – Public Use File.” doi: 10.58094/3kwb-bf52.

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