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Sects & Stats

Overturning the Conventional Wisdom About Cult Members

James R Lewis author

Format:Paperback

Publisher:Equinox Publishing Ltd

Published:15th Oct '14

Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back

Sects & Stats cover

A major, perhaps the major, focus of early research on New Religious Movements (NRMs) was on the people who joined. Most of the field's pioneer researchers were sociologists. However, the profile of NRM members had changed substantially by the twenty-first century - changes largely missed because the great majority of current NRM specialists are not quantitatively oriented. Sects & Stats aims to overturn the conventional wisdom by drawing on current quantitative data from two sources: questionnaire research on select NRMs and relevant national census data collected by Anglophone countries. Sects & Stats also makes a strong argument for the use of longitudinal methods in studying alternative religions. Additionally, through case studies drawn from the author's own research projects over the years, readers will be brought into a conversation about some of the issues involved in how to conduct such research.

The book has an important contribution to make to the study of NRMs. Helen A. Berger, Brandeis University

ISBN: 9781781791080

Dimensions: unknown

Weight: unknown

256 pages