{"id":202651,"date":"2025-03-26T09:50:28","date_gmt":"2025-03-26T13:53:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/?p=202651"},"modified":"2025-08-14T15:30:04","modified_gmt":"2025-08-14T19:30:04","slug":"international-religious-switching-methodology","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/religion\/2025\/03\/26\/international-religious-switching-methodology\/","title":{"rendered":"Methodology"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h3 data-is-section=\"true\" data-wp-context=\"{&quot;id&quot;:&quot;about-pew-research-center-s-spring-2024-global-attitudes-survey&quot;}\" data-wp-interactive=\"{&quot;namespace&quot;:&quot;prc-block\\\/table-of-contents&quot;}\" class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"about-pew-research-center-s-spring-2024-global-attitudes-survey\">About Pew Research Center\u2019s Spring 2024 Global Attitudes Survey<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Results for the survey are based on telephone, face-to-face and online interviews conducted under the direction of Gallup, Langer Research Associates, Social Research Centre and Verian. The results are based on national samples, unless otherwise noted. Read more details about our\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/methods\/interactives\/international-methodology\/all-survey\/all-country\/all-year\/\">international survey methodology and country-specific sample designs<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 data-is-section=\"true\" data-wp-context=\"{&quot;id&quot;:&quot;the-religious-landscape-study-s-survey-methodology&quot;}\" data-wp-interactive=\"{&quot;namespace&quot;:&quot;prc-block\\\/table-of-contents&quot;}\" class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"the-religious-landscape-study-s-survey-methodology\">The Religious Landscape Study\u2019s survey methodology<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Results for the United States are based on data from the 2023-24 Religious Landscape Study. Surveys were conducted in English and Spanish. For more information about how Pew Research Center conducted this landmark survey, read the <a href=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/religion\/2025\/02\/26\/religious-landscape-study-methodology\/\">methodology<\/a> section of <a href=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/religion\/2025\/02\/26\/decline-of-christianity-in-the-us-has-slowed-may-have-leveled-off\/\">the report<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 data-is-section=\"true\" data-wp-context=\"{&quot;id&quot;:&quot;analysis&quot;}\" data-wp-interactive=\"{&quot;namespace&quot;:&quot;prc-block\\\/table-of-contents&quot;}\" class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"analysis\">Analysis<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"religious-identification\">Religious identification<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In each country surveyed, people were asked about their current and childhood religious identification. We only analyzed religious groups with large enough sample sizes. But respondents of other religious backgrounds were not excluded from the surveys, even if their religious group was not able to be analyzed separately. In the U.S. for example, the survey included Sikhs, Wiccans, followers of Native American religious traditions, and others, though there were\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/2022\/08\/08\/why-pew-research-center-typically-cant-report-the-views-of-smaller-u-s-religious-groups\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">not enough respondents from these smaller groups<\/a>\u00a0to report on their answers separately. Refer to the report <a href=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2025\/03\/PR_2025.03.26_international-religious-switching_topline.pdf\">Topline<\/a> for additional information.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"education\">Education<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">To compare educational groups across countries, we standardize education levels based on the United Nations\u2019 <a href=\"https:\/\/uis.unesco.org\/en\/topic\/international-standard-classification-education-isced\">International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED)<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>About Pew Research Center\u2019s Spring 2024 Global Attitudes Survey Results for the survey are based on telephone, face-to-face and online interviews conducted under the direction of Gallup, Langer Research Associates, Social Research Centre and Verian. The results are based on national samples, unless otherwise noted. Read more details about our\u00a0international survey methodology and country-specific sample [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":675,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"sub_headline":"","sub_title":"","_prc_public_revisions":[],"_ppp_expiration_hours":0,"_ppp_enabled":false,"ai_generated_summary":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"relatedPosts":[],"reportMaterials":[],"multiSectionReport":[],"package_parts__enabled":false,"package_parts":[],"_prc_fork_parent":0,"_prc_fork_status":"","_prc_active_fork":0,"datacite_doi":"","datacite_doi_citation":"","_prc_seo_qr_attachment_id":0,"spoken_article_player_enabled":true,"displayBylines":true,"footnotes":"","prc_watchers":[],"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[192,179,193,189,188,412,160,195,405],"tags":[],"bylines":[832,550,589],"collection":[],"datasets":[2610,2789],"level_of_effort":[],"primary_audience":[],"information_type":[],"_post_visibility":[],"formats":[458],"_fund_pool":[],"languages":[],"regions-countries":[507,516,504,498,514,497,513,509,510,505,512,511,515],"research-teams":[525,517],"workflow-status":[],"class_list":["post-202651","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-buddhism","category-christianity","category-hinduism","category-islam","category-judaism","category-pew-templeton-global-religious-futures-project","category-religious-identity-affiliation","category-religiously-unaffiliated","category-size-demographic-characteristics-of-religious-groups","bylines-kelsey-jo-starr","bylines-kirsten-lesage","bylines-william-miner","datasets-2023-24-religious-landscape-study-rls-dataset","datasets-spring-2024-survey-data","formats-report","regions-countries-asia-pacific","regions-countries-europe-russia","regions-countries-germany","regions-countries-india","regions-countries-international","regions-countries-israel","regions-countries-latin-america","regions-countries-mexico","regions-countries-middle-east-north-africa","regions-countries-multiple-regions-worldwide","regions-countries-north-america","regions-countries-sub-saharan-africa","regions-countries-united-states","research-teams-global","research-teams-religion"],"label":false,"post_parent":202481,"word_count":221,"canonical_url":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/religion\/2025\/03\/26\/international-religious-switching-methodology\/","art_direction":{"A2":{"id":202949,"rawUrl":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2025\/03\/PR_2025.03.26_international-religious-switching_featured.jpg","url":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2025\/03\/PR_2025.03.26_international-religious-switching_featured.jpg?w=268&h=151&crop=1","width":268,"height":151,"caption":"Light shines through the doors of Zionskirche, a Protestant church in Berlin. 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Religious switching into and out of the religiously unaffiliated group","slug":"religious-switching-into-and-out-of-the-religiously-unaffiliated-group","link":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/religion\/2025\/03\/26\/religious-switching-into-and-out-of-the-religiously-unaffiliated-group\/","is_active":false},{"id":202538,"title":"3. Religious switching into and out of Buddhism","slug":"religious-switching-into-and-out-of-buddhism","link":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/religion\/2025\/03\/26\/religious-switching-into-and-out-of-buddhism\/","is_active":false},{"id":202541,"title":"4. Religious switching into and out of Islam","slug":"religious-switching-into-and-out-of-islam","link":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/religion\/2025\/03\/26\/religious-switching-into-and-out-of-islam\/","is_active":false},{"id":202548,"title":"5. Religious switching into and out of Hinduism","slug":"religious-switching-into-and-out-of-hinduism","link":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/religion\/2025\/03\/26\/religious-switching-into-and-out-of-hinduism\/","is_active":false},{"id":202550,"title":"6. Religious switching into and out of Judaism","slug":"religious-switching-into-and-out-of-judaism","link":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/religion\/2025\/03\/26\/religious-switching-into-and-out-of-judaism\/","is_active":false},{"id":202553,"title":"Acknowledgments","slug":"international-religious-switching-acknowledgments","link":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/religion\/2025\/03\/26\/international-religious-switching-acknowledgments\/","is_active":false},{"id":202651,"title":"Methodology","slug":"international-religious-switching-methodology","link":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/religion\/2025\/03\/26\/international-religious-switching-methodology\/","is_active":true}],"report_materials":[{"key":"_4ht28d0tp","type":"report","url":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2025\/03\/PR_2025.03.26_international-religious-switching_report.pdf","label":"Report PDF","attachmentId":202958},{"key":"_hvm2f4yha","type":"topline","url":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2025\/03\/PR_2025.03.26_international-religious-switching_topline.pdf","label":"Topline","attachmentId":202433},{"key":"_476heauvn","type":"link","url":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/religion\/2025\/04\/02\/spanish-press-release-international-religious-switching\/?utm_source=comms&utm_medium=website&utm_campaign=translatedpressrelease&utm_id=pr-international-religious-switching","label":"Spanish: En todo el mundo, muchas personas abandonan las religiones de su infancia","icon":"link"},{"type":"dataset","id":2610,"label":"2023-24 Religious Landscape Study (RLS) Dataset","url":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/dataset\/2023-24-religious-landscape-study-rls-dataset\/"},{"type":"dataset","id":2789,"label":"Spring 2024 Survey Data","url":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/dataset\/spring-2024-survey-data\/"}],"report_pagination":{"current_post":{"id":202651,"title":"Methodology","slug":"international-religious-switching-methodology","link":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/religion\/2025\/03\/26\/international-religious-switching-methodology\/","is_active":true,"page_num":9},"next_post":null,"previous_post":{"id":202553,"title":"Acknowledgments","slug":"international-religious-switching-acknowledgments","link":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/religion\/2025\/03\/26\/international-religious-switching-acknowledgments\/","is_active":false,"page_num":8},"pagination_items":[{"id":202481,"title":"Around the World, Many People Are Leaving Their Childhood Religions","slug":"around-the-world-many-people-are-leaving-their-childhood-religions","link":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/religion\/2025\/03\/26\/around-the-world-many-people-are-leaving-their-childhood-religions\/","is_active":false,"page_num":1},{"id":202509,"title":"1. Religious switching into and out of Christianity","slug":"religious-switching-into-and-out-of-christianity","link":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/religion\/2025\/03\/26\/religious-switching-into-and-out-of-christianity\/","is_active":false,"page_num":2},{"id":202535,"title":"2. Religious switching into and out of the religiously unaffiliated group","slug":"religious-switching-into-and-out-of-the-religiously-unaffiliated-group","link":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/religion\/2025\/03\/26\/religious-switching-into-and-out-of-the-religiously-unaffiliated-group\/","is_active":false,"page_num":3},{"id":202538,"title":"3. Religious switching into and out of Buddhism","slug":"religious-switching-into-and-out-of-buddhism","link":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/religion\/2025\/03\/26\/religious-switching-into-and-out-of-buddhism\/","is_active":false,"page_num":4},{"id":202541,"title":"4. Religious switching into and out of Islam","slug":"religious-switching-into-and-out-of-islam","link":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/religion\/2025\/03\/26\/religious-switching-into-and-out-of-islam\/","is_active":false,"page_num":5},{"id":202548,"title":"5. Religious switching into and out of Hinduism","slug":"religious-switching-into-and-out-of-hinduism","link":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/religion\/2025\/03\/26\/religious-switching-into-and-out-of-hinduism\/","is_active":false,"page_num":6},{"id":202550,"title":"6. Religious switching into and out of Judaism","slug":"religious-switching-into-and-out-of-judaism","link":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/religion\/2025\/03\/26\/religious-switching-into-and-out-of-judaism\/","is_active":false,"page_num":7},{"id":202553,"title":"Acknowledgments","slug":"international-religious-switching-acknowledgments","link":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/religion\/2025\/03\/26\/international-religious-switching-acknowledgments\/","is_active":false,"page_num":8},{"id":202651,"title":"Methodology","slug":"international-religious-switching-methodology","link":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/religion\/2025\/03\/26\/international-religious-switching-methodology\/","is_active":true,"page_num":9}]},"parent_info":{"parent_title":"Around the World, Many People Are Leaving Their Childhood Religions","parent_id":202481},"materialsOrdered":[],"chaptersOrdered":[],"partsOrdered":[],"partsEnabled":false,"datacite_doi":"Lesage, Kirsten, Kelsey Starr and William Miner.  2025.  \"Around the World, Many People Are Leaving Their Childhood Religions.\"  Pew Research Center. doi: 10.58094\/xt5h-b241.","prc_seo_data":{"title":"Methodology","description":"About Pew Research Center\u2019s Spring 2024 Global Attitudes Survey Results for the survey are based on telephone, face-to-face and online interviews conducted under the direction of Gallup, Langer Research Associates,&hellip;","og_title":"Methodology","og_description":"","schema_type":"Article","noindex":false,"canonical_url":"","primary_terms":{"category":160,"formats":458,"regions-countries":505,"research-teams":517},"custom_schema":[],"og_image":202949,"indexnow_submitted_at":null,"gsc_index_status":null},"prepublish_checks":{"prc-image-alt-text":{"status":"complete","message":"No image blocks in 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