THE CHURCH MEMBERSHIP STUDIES - AN ASSESSMENT OF 4 DECADES OF INSTITUTIONAL RESEARCH

This essay examines the characteristics of the census-type county leve l study, Churches and Church Membership in the United States, 1990, an d compares it to previous versions of the study for the years 1952, 19 71, and 1980. Four questions about these studies are addressed. First, to what extent are these studies representative of the general and re ligious population universes from which they are drawn? Second, for de nominations available for longitudinal analysis, what degree of compat ibility exists between the four studies? Third, what adjustments are r equired to accommodate denominational mergers and schisms for the near ly forty years covered by these studies? Fourth, what are the unique f eatures of the 1990 version of this study?